


Heroes without masks

by evenni



Category: Miraculous Ladybug
Genre: Brave Marinette, Don't mess with Sabine!, Fluff and Angst, Gabriel is an ass, Good Parents Sabine Cheng & Tom Dupain, Hurt, Identity Reveal, No akuma, Trapped, but not for long, this is my first fic
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-08-28
Updated: 2019-03-12
Packaged: 2019-07-03 19:15:53
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 21
Words: 33,044
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15825231
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/evenni/pseuds/evenni
Summary: A loud explosion left the walls of the François Dupont college shaking. You could even feel it in the floors, and hear the windows clatter in their frames. The students who were still in the courtyard all looked in the direction of the noise. Mrs. Mendeleiev came running towards them, followed by a bunch of students and smoke, and told them to leave, calmly. She and the other teachers guided everyone outside, without anyone panicking. Once outside, they stood on the sidewalk in front of the school, looking at the building and trying to figure out what was wrong.“Is everyone here?” Mrs. Bustier asked.“Where is Marinette. She isn’t here!” Alya almost screamed in panic.“My Adrikins isn’t here either!” Chloe yelled.





	1. Things gone wrong

**Author's Note:**

> Hey everyone  
> Thanks for reading this first chapter of my fic. This is my first fanfic ever, so I hope you like it.  
> Feel free to comment, and maybe you can give some advice or inspiration for the rest of the story. (only constructive comments please)  
> Also, English is not my maternal language, so I apologise for possible mistakes in grammar and vocabuly.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This chapter is currently beta-read. A specia thanks to my beta readers Djaeka and xthreeravensx, who made sure that the grammar and vocabulary errors were corrected.

A loud explosion left the walls of the François Dupont college shaking. You could even feel it in the floors, and hear the windows clatter in their frames. The students who were still in the courtyard, which weren’t many (because it was a Friday afternoon, and most classes already had ended), all looked in the direction of the noise. Mrs. Mendeleiev came running towards them, followed by a bunch of students and smoke, and told them to leave, calmly. She and the other teachers guided everyone outside, without anyone panicking. Once outside, they stood on the sidewalk in front of the school, looking at the building and trying to figure out what was wrong. Suddenly, a second explosion came, harder. They even felt the ground shaking outside the school. The smoke got thicker, and everyone looked at the building with fear.

The teachers counted the students, to make sure everyone got out.

“Is everyone here?” Mrs. Bustier asked.

“Where is Marinette? She isn’t here!” Alya almost screamed in panic.

“Who cares? My Adrikins isn’t here either!” Chloe yelled, causing Alya to see red.

“You little …” Alya started, when she felt someone holding her back. Nino steps in front of her, and just shook

his head. 

“She’s not worth it Alya” , he muttered. “It will not bring them back.”

“Do you have any idea where they were before the explosions?” Mrs. Bustier asked Alya, trying to calm her down.

“I … I think they went to the library, to work on their physics presentation” Nino answered, aware that Alya was starting to freak out. He knew how much she cared about Marinette, and wrapped his arms on her shoulders to comfort her.

“The library?” Mrs. Mendeleiev asked. Nino nodded.

“That was one of the first places where the explosion caused damage. If they are still inside, it is possible that they are trapped!”

Everyone looked at the Chemistry teacher with wide eyes full of worry, and then to the school, to see how much smoke there was. The familiar smell of a fire was unmistakable.

“What? Is Marinette still inside!?” A voice called in almost death panic.

The whole group looked back and saw Sabine Cheng and Tom Dupain standing on the sidewalk, with terror in their eyes.

 

* * *

 

The first thing Adrien noticed after the second explosion was how silent it was. He removed his arms from his head, and looked around. He noticed how much dust there was in the library.  _ Typical _ , he thought. He stood up, coughing, and looked at the damage around him. Almost all the bookshelves were lying down on the floor, and a lot of books were too. He saw that also a part of the roof and upper wall had come down, right where they were sitting 2 or 3 minutes ago.

_ \- A few minutes ago -  _

When the first explosion came, both of them looked up in surprise, not able to move the first 2 seconds. After looking at each other, they took off from their position at the table, trying to get out as soon as possible. 

The library in the François Dupont college was a maze of bookshelves, standing on different levels. They started shaking the moment the first explosion occurred, and some books fell out.

During their flight for the doors, Adrien lost sight of Marinette, but just kept going, resisting the urge to go back and look for her. 

_ Come on Adrien, focus. Marinette is a big girl, she’s braver than you think. _ He couldn’t imagine on that moment how right he was.

When they were halfway across the library, he stopped for a short moment, trying to catch his breath. After a few seconds, Marinette found him there, falling to her knees in exhaustion.

“Are … Are you … okay?” Adrien managed to get out, while trying to steady his breath.

Marinette just gave him a thumbs up as answer, but looked like she wanted to say something after it. Probably asking how he was. 

Before she could say anything, she was interrupted by a second explosion, a bigger one that left the ground shaking. Adrien had difficulties with keeping his balance, and the bookshelves were shaking more than ever. 

Suddenly, before the shaking was over, the shelves that were the closest to them started to tumble over, and they heard a sound like a wall came down. 

“Come on Adrien, run!” Marinette called out to him, but he was frozen. For some reason he couldn’t move. He felt someone taking his hand, and a hard pull made him move. He  realized Marinette was pulling him while trying to get out. Around them, it was like the whole library was collapsing. Books and shelves were falling, and the dust they left was getting thicker, making it harder to breath and see.

Still guided by Marinette, they rounded a corner, only for Adrien to bump in on her and making her almost tumble to the ground by his weight. Almost, because he, still holding her hand, pulled her towards him, and caught her against his chest. Now it was clearer than ever how much smaller she was than him, holding her like that. 

After he let her go, and made sure she was alright, he could see why she so suddenly had stopped. A row of fallen shelves, looking like domino bricks, blocked the road. 

Looking around for another way, Adrien pointed to the left and said “There.”

Marinette seemed to get the message, and started running again, this time behind him.  After 3 corners, Adrien slipped as he tripped on a book and fell, bumping into another bookshelf that was still upright. The air was knocked out of him, and his vision was blurry for a few seconds. He felt hands on his shoulders, trying to get his attention, and his gaze shifted to Marinette. She took his hands, trying to get him on his feet, but he was way too heavy for her. Though, with his model diet, he was pretty sure he was lighter than the other boys in their class. He was trying to get back up his feet, when he heard a high-pitched scream.

“Adrien! Look out!”

The next thing he knew, was being yanked forward, and he was sliding over the floor. He moved his arms, so his head was protected.  He tried to locate Marinette, but he couldn’t find her in the cloud of dust. He knew he had to get back on his feet, but his head was spinning too much. Last thing he remembered was a blow on his head.

_\- Present time -_  

“I think we got pretty lucky, Marinette.” He said. He waited for an answer, but none came.

“Marinette?” He cried out again, getting more worried by every passing second. He kept looking around. He reached to the pocket Plagg tended to hide in, to ask if he could help search for his missing classmate, but Plagg was gone too.

 

Adrien had to held back a scream for his kwami (because Marinette might hear him) and tried to think. Where could that stupid little black cat be?

_ Of course, _  Adrien almost facepalmed when he remembered.  _ Plagg was in my bag the whole time! So, he is just hiding somewhere else. _  Adrien knew he just had to trust the little black kwami to come back to him. First, he had to look for Marinette, and then they had to get out of the school as soon as possible!

“Marinette! Where are you!” he called her over and over again, hoping for an answer, a hint where she could be.

He started to walk to the place where he last saw her, and stopped when his foot hit something that was definitely not a book.

He looked down, to see Marinette, lying unconscious, and completely covered with books. Her legs disappeared underneath the bookshelf that had met his back. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you again for reading, and let me know what you think  
> I'm sorry (not acctually, how will I otherwise keep you interested in the stroy?) for the cliffhanger.
> 
> I don't know yet when the next chapter will be out, but I'll try to update as soon as possible  
> Kudos are alway welcome by the way ;-)


	2. Waking up

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey everyone!  
> Here is the next chapter of my fic! Enjoy!

Everyone just stared at Sabine and Tom, not knowing what to say. What do you say to parents who are so scared for the sake of their child? But you can’t keep the truth from them either. So Alya, who knew them well, stepped forward, and took Sabines hands.

She took a deep breath “Marinette and Adrien were in the library, before the first explosion. When all of us were outside, we noticed they weren’t with us. But maybe … maybe they got out through another door or window or something, or …” Alya stopped, and started to cry. Nino came standing next to her, and hugged her. Tom and Sabine looked at each other, with fear in their eyes.

“Has anyone tried to contact them?” Tom asked. Everyone shook their heads. Sabine’s eyes started to tear up, but she remained calm. Nino, Alya and all the others from the class immediately took their phones out, and texted or tried to call one of them. After a few minutes, Nino got through to Adrien.

“Adrien. Thank goodness, you’re all right.”

* * *

 

 

Adrien looked shocked for a second, when he realised what had happened. When he realised how he had ended up on the ground where he had.

Marinette had sacrificed herself, to get him out underneath the shelf, to pull him out, when he couldn't. And she didn’t get away in time.

His eyes started to tear up, but he fought to held them back. He had to focus on Marinette first, he could deal with his emotions later.

“Marinette ... Mari can you hear me?” he said, gently shaking her shoulders. He started removing the books that covered her. Without them hiding her from his sight, he could see how bad it was. Her left leg was ‘free’ (if you could say it like that), because of the books that had fallen on the ground, on top of each other, and they created a pile on which the shelf leaned. Her right leg, however, was clearly stuck, and it was just the question how much damage the shelf had brought to it. Maybe she couldn't even walk! Maybe it was broken, or ... worse.

He tried shaking her again, calling out her name, desperate to get a reaction out of her, to make sure she was all right.

 _Come on, Marinette, you can’t leave me here,_ he thought, and he was surprised by the thought. Sure, she was one of his best friends, but nothing more, right? He wasn’t sure anymore.

_No! Bad Adrien! You love Ladybug, not Marinette! She is just a friend._

He couldn’t convince himself. He was shocked out of his thoughts by a familiar sound. It took him a few seconds to recognize his own ringtone.

On the display, he saw Nino’s name, and a lot of text messages. He now heard Marinette’s phone to, but he couldn’t reach it, because it was either in her purse or pocket, and both were underneath the shelf.

Suddenly, he heard a soft moan coming from her, and he saw that her arms slowly started to move.

* * *

 

When Marinette started to regain consciousness, the memories flashed before her eyes. She saw Adrien standing frozen, her taking his hand and running. She saw him tripping again, over the book, and tumbled towards that bookshelf. She had tried to get him on his feet, to get him out of there, because she saw the bookshelf wobble, and leaning over. But she wasn’t strong enough. She just wasn’t. So she did the only thing she could think of: just throwing him out of the way. He sided over the ground, and she also tried to get away, but her luck (or misfortune) let her trip this time, and after that it all went black.

Now, she heard a voice, calling her name. Maybe she heard it because she was comming back to consciousness, or maybe the voice was guiding her, she didn’t know. All she knew was that she had to follow the voice, come back.

“Marinette! Please, wake up.”

 _Adrien,_  she thought.  _Adrien is calling me._  She could hear the fear in his voice, and something else to, but she couldn’t put her finger on it. Then, she heard another, strange sound. She started to recognize her ringtone, and she heard another. Someone was calling her!

A soft moan escaped her mouth, and she tried to move her arms, so she could push her up. When she managed to lift her head, her gaze was a bit fuzzy, but she could clearly see Adrien’s silhouette in front of her. When her vision became sharper, she saw the look on his face, the joy in those forest green eyes, were she could get lost in. In his left hand, he held his phone, which was still ringing.

“Marinette …” He said, unable to say anything else.

She smiled at him, letting him know she was okay.

“You … You’re okay! Wait, are you?” He said, while trying to wipe his tears away.

“I think I am. Wait, how are you? I mean, you hit the bookshelf pretty hard.”

For a few seconds, Adrien could just stare. Then, he started laughing. “Marinette! This is typical for you! You’re the one under the shelf, not me!”

Now, Marinette looked for the first time at her legs, like she just realised that she was stuck underneath. Her expression changed, and he could see the fear in her eyes.

_No Marinette! Do not freak out! Freaking out would not help the situation! Get a grip, you are Ladybug!_

She tried to take deep breaths, to calm her down. Instead, she focused on the sound that came from Adrien’s phone

“I think you should answer the call. The one calling might be a bit worried.”

Adrien seemed to remember that Nino was trying to call him. He immediately picked up.

“Hey Nino.”

 _Adrien. Thank goodness, you’re all right_. Marinette could hear the relieve in Nino’s voice.

“I am, just a bit scratched and bruised, but nothing bad.” Adrien putted his phone on speaker, so Marinette could follow the conversation.

_That’ s a relieve. Where are you? Do you know where Marinette is? Her parents are really worried. We all are! No one is able to reach her, she doesn’t answer her phone. Alya is starting to freak out, and …_

“No worries Nino, I’m fine.” Marinette said, cutting his rambling off.

_Marinette? Thank God, you can’t believe how happy I am to hear your voice! Wait, I put the phone on speaker, so everyone can follow._

_Marinette? Sweetie, where are you? Is everything all right?_ Marinette recognized the voice of her own mother.

“I’m in the library. We both are. I think I am all right.”

 _Okay Sweetie. Now, listen. Both of you have to get out as fast as possible! The firemen are on their way, but there is …_  her mom was cut off.

Marinette looked at Adrien, who was looking at his phone

“I’m sorry Marinette. My battery is dead!” he said, with an apologetic look on his face.

“It's okay, it's not your fault. “

“Hey, Marinette? Thank you, for saving me. I'm pretty sure you saved my life.”

Marinette started to blush, and looked away.

“It was nothing Adrien, really. You would have done the same for me.”

Adrien was flattered by her trust in him. Sure, he would have, but hearing it from someone else, that was a different feeling. When he looked back at her, he saw that she looked worried.

Marinette was trying to understand her mom’s message. There was something that was dangerous, so dangerous that they didn’t have time to wait for the firemen. But what? 

That is when she noticed something. A smell.

“Adrien, do you smell that to?”

* * *

 

” Adrien, do you smell that to?” Marinette said.

Now that she mentioned it, he did. It smelled like a fire. But he knew when he said that, she would immediately start to panic again. And panic wouldn’t help them.

“I’ll go check, okay? Can you try to get out, or find a way out underneath the shelf?” Marinette nodded, trying to remain calm.

He went to the doors, and was just shocked by what he saw. There was rubble, piling up in front of one door, and it blocked the other. Luckily for them, the doors had a glass part, that they could break to get out, but then? He walked closer to the doors, and saw the fire. He could also see that the stairs in front of the library were completely blocked!

_If I could transform in Chat Noir, then I could easily get us out. But without Plagg ..._

If he was alone, he could just climb out. But Marinette was still stuck. He couldn't just leave her!

_I have to save her! I'm a superhero! I owe it to her!_

He couldn't imagine losing her like this! She was a nice, gentle yet brave girl. Her saving him just proved that. Now to, she just stayed so calm. And the look on her face when she was thinking, it seemed so familiar. He had seen that look on Ladybug's face many times.

_But Marinette couldn't be Ladybug, could it? I saw them together with the timebreaker event._

Then again, when he thought of it, it was time travel. It was possible. And, he had to admit, he felt attracted to both Ladybug and Marinette. Maybe that was the reason he almost wished they were the same person, that he was looking for similarities.

“Adrien, everything okay there?” Marinette said.

He realised he was just standing there, in front of those doors. He had to get back, try to get her from underneath that stupid bookshelf. He shook his head to clear his thoughts, and ran back.

When he came back, he saw her looking at him, the question visible in her beautiful blue bell eyes.  _The same eyes as Ladybug_  he thought.  _No, focus Adrien!_  

“Marinette, there is … it is…” He struggled to find the right words. How could he say it, without freaking her out to much?

“Adrien, what is it?” Marinette asked, starting to get worried.

He took a deep breath “There is a fire near the Chemistry lab. And the stairs are completely blocked with rubble from the explosions! I couldn’t even open the door!”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> What a relieve! Marinette is still alive!  
> And Adrien doesn't have a clue how wrong he is, but we all love our oblivious cinnamon roll!  
> Anyway, thanks for reading, and I'll update as soon as possible


	3. Pile of books

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> A confronation between Chloe and Marinette's classmates. And of course a lot of insults (it is still Choe)

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Here is the 3th chapter!  
> Thanks to a good friend, there shouldn't be any mistakes in the text (she read it and corrected them)
> 
> anyway, enjoy!

Marinette looked at Adrien, eyes big with fear. “What? A fire?” She asked. Things started to click in place. This completed her mother’s message. This was the reason they couldn’t wait for the firemen.

“Hey, are you okay?” Adrien asked.

She realised she had been staring at him without saying anything.

“Yeah. We have to get out of here.”

“You’ve got an idea?” He asked.

“You see the pile of books there, right” she pointed at the pile that was underneath the shelf, that made sure her left leg was free. Adrien nodded, motioning her to continue.

"If you sack those books a bit higher, you could free my right leg, just like they've kept my left from being trapped"

Adrien looked at it. “Wouldn’t it be easier if I just lift the shelf, and you crawl out underneath?”

Marinette looked away for a second. She looked a bit uneased by this question.

“Adrien, to be honest … I mean, I don’t want to be mean, and it is not that I don’t trust you or anything, I – It’s – It’s just ..” She started to stammer, and her face turned red from embarrassment.

Adrien took her left hand and lifted her chin so she had to look at him. He looked her right into her eyes, making her mind go crazy! She couldn’t hurt him by saying that! She couldn’t think of anything to say to him right now! She felt her face heat up and was pretty sure her face was as red as her Ladybug costume! Why did he do this to her? Why did he make her brain go all fuzzy so she couldn’t think straight anymore, why?

“Marinette, you can tell me. I know you wouldn’t be mean to me on purpose. You’re not Chloe! I am _purr_ – itty sure it isn’t as bad as you think it is.” He smiled at his own pun.

This woke Marinette from her thoughts. For a moment, she could just stare. With this grin, and the pun, he reminded her of Chat Noir. _But he can’t be, can he? They’re so different! Maybe he is just a fan, maybe …_

“Marinette?” Adrien said, still waiting for an answer.

She realised she was staring again.

“Well, What I wanted to say is that I am not sure you can lift the shelf long enough. I mean, for me to crawl out from underneath it! I am not even sure I can!”

Adrien shrugged. He hadn’t thought of that. Sure, he had to admit that he was a bit offended that she doubted his strength. But he also got where she was coming from.

“I get it, you wouldn’t want to risk getting hit by it again.”

Marinett only nodded, grabbed a book and gave it to him, to get him to work. Working together like this, they soon got a pile that raised the shelf about half a meter off the floor.

“Okay, I think this is good enough! Can you try to get out?” Adrien asked.

Marinette swallowed, before she nodded. She could feel her leg throbbing the entire time and knew something was wrong. Now that her leg was free, and the adrenaline gone, it was even worse. She could already feel her ankle swell, and her lower leg hurt like crazy. She wasn't even sure she could move it, let alone crawl!

_No! You have to try Marinette! You can’t give up before you tried!_

So, she gathered all her strength and tried to move that damned right leg to get out underneath that shelf.

* * *

 

“Adrien. Thank goodness, you’re alright” Everyone faced Nino, now that he Adrien. Nino listened to the answer and started to smile when he heard nothing worse had happened to his buddy. He saw some hopeful faces, and he could see the questions they wanted him to ask written all over them.

“That’s a relieve. Where are you? Do you know where Marinette is? Her parents are really worried. We all are! No one is able to reach her, she doesn’t answer her phone. Alya is starting to freak out, and …”

He was surprised by the answer he got, and it was clear to the rest to. He was surprised by who had answered him, and started slowly to smile.

“Marinette? Thank God, you can’t believe how happy I am to hear your voice!” Nino said, and he felt everyone looking at him. Her mother stepped closer, and he could see that she wanted to talk to her daughter badly. Alya almost started to cry out of relief and came standing close to him. He put his hand around her shoulder, pulling her even closer.

 “Wait, I’ll put the phone on speaker, so everyone can follow” He said, and held out the phone in front of him. Her mom immediately stepped forward, making it clear she wanted to say something.

“Marinette? Sweetie, where are you? Is everything alright?” she asked with tears in her eyes. Her husband stood next to her, putting his rather large hands on her shoulders to comfort her, worry clear on both their faces

_I’m in the library. We both are. I think I am alright._

Sabine sighed in relief “Okay Sweetie. Now, listen. Both of you have to get out as fast as possible! The firemen are on their way, but there is a fire …” She was interrupted by a sound of Nino’s phone.

“What’s the matter Nino? What happened?” Tom asked.

“I’m not sure. It’s not my phone, it still works. Maybe a problem with the reception?” Nino did not sound sure.

“I think …” Alya started “I think it is because either Adrien’s phone is broken or his battery died”

“How do you know that?” Rose asked.

Alya chuckled at the memory. “It happened once when Mari and I were calling. She later texted me that she had forgotten to charge her phone.”

“That sounds like Marinette alright.” Alix commented, and she had to hold back a laugh.

Everyone laughed a little and Marinette’s parents went to Mr. Damocles, the headmaster, to ask how far away the firemen were. The class was left standing together.

“Luckily they are together. I couldn’t imagine if one of them was lost, or worst.” Rose said and Juleka took her hand as a silent support.

“Lucky! You call it ‘lucky’ that MY Adrikins is still inside that horrible library, together with that stupid baker girl, who happens to have the WORST luck in the world! I am sure she will be a burden on my poor Adrikins, and if he doesn’t get out on time, it will definitely be her fault!” Chloe said with so much anger that everyone just looked at her for a few seconds. The looks on their faces went from anger to disbelief to rage.

“Are you serious Chloe?” Kim said with a disdainful look.

“You can NOT speak about Marinette like that! She is so much more than a stupid baker girl. So much more than you.” Alya said, angrily pointing a finger at the blond girl.

“Puh-lease! As if she will ever be more than me! That Maritrash is nothing compared to MOI! Everyone adores me. I am the most adored girl in Paris!” She said, while patting on her ponytail. Sabrina, on the other hand, started to hide behind Chloe’s back, afraid for her classmates’ gazes.

“You have no right to say that about Marinette, you spoiled brat!” Alix said

“I am about 99,99% sure that almost everyone will confirm they don’t like you at all.” Max added, putting his glasses back on his face.

“yeah, I don’t know why Adrien puts up with you at all. Or Sabrina for that matter! If I were them, I would have abandoned you a long time ago, after what you did to me. To all of us, for that matter” Ivan said, pulling Mylene to his side, knowing her presence would calm him down. Mylene looked at him, telling him with her eyes he did right, and only looked angrily at Chloe.

“Ivan is right! You are the reason he, Mylene, Juleka, Rose and a lot of others were akumatized. I still don’t understand why Ladybug even bothers to save you every time.” Nathaneal added.

“Ridiculous! Utterly Ridiculous! Don’t forget I am the daughter of the mayor of Paris! You have no right to talk to me like that! And Adrikins loves me, I am the first and best friend he ever had, and Sabrina is glad to have me! If she didn’t have me, she would be alone! I am her only friend! Without me, she would be nothing! And Ladybug and I are best friends, of course she saves me!”

Now everyone was looking at her with complete disbelief. They all knew how nasty and mean Chloe could be, but to talk like that about your friend!

“So, anyone of you losers got something to say to me? I thought so! Now, I am getting a headache from being in your presence, I am going home.” The blond started walking away, putting on her sunglasses. After 5 meters, she stopped and turned around.

“Sabrina! Are you coming or what?”

“No!”

“What do you mean no? Sabrina, get your ugly shoes over here! You have to comfort me as long as my poor Adrikins isn’t safe!” she said, with a dramatic sigh.

“No, I am not going to do what you say anymore Chloe! I’ve had it, all your insults about me being nothing! I am someone, and without me, you would still be in the 8th grade, because you don’t do homework, and you can’t do it, and you are just an annoying little spoiled brat!”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Who had expected this from Sabrina!  
> Chloe deserved it though.  
> What do you think of it? Leave your comments below!
> 
> I'll update as soon as possible


	4. Injury

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I am a little later with updating than with the former chapters,  
> but I had some things to do this weekend.  
> Sorry this chapter is shorter than the rest, I try to make them longer in the future.  
> So, I hope you like it!

Adrien watched as Marinette tried to get out from underneath the bookshelf. He could see she was in pain. Suddenly, she let out a moan.

“Are you sure everything is alright?”

He saw that she wanted to nod, but one look from him (he tried to look like ‘don’t lie to me, I can handle the truth’) and she shook her head, and explained: “No. My right leg is throbbing, it has been the entire time, but now the pressure of the shelf is gone, it is worse. I can hardly bend my knee.” She looked away for a second. “I don’t think I can crawl out underneath.”

“Okay. Then I am going to pull you out. Ready.” He hoped he sounded ready. He didn’t want to make it worse for her. Or, rather, make the injury worse.

“Ready as I’ll ever be. “She said, and tried to give him a reassuring smile, but she kind of failed. He almost felt bad about suggesting this, but it was the only way he could think of right now.

Adrien took her wrists, and gently pulled. He could hear her wince, but he knew he couldn’t stop. The sooner she was out underneath that damned shelf, the better.

When she was out, he let her arms go, and she turned herself around, so she was lying on her back. She was panting, probably because she had to bit down the pain. For the first time, her injury was visible, and Adrien was shocked at the sight of it.

Her ankle was blue and swollen, and he could see a lot of splinters in, and bruises and scratches on her lower leg. A thick red mark indicated where the shelf had met the leg. _Wait,_ he thought, _is that blood?_

For a minute, he didn’t know what to say. That had to hurt, a lot! How were they going to get out of here, with Marinette in a condition like this? Could she even walk? He doubted it.

When he looked at her again, he could see her troubled face, and the concern about him in her eyes.

_Way to go Agreste! Now she is concerned about you instead of herself! Pull yourself together! Say something!_

But he didn’t say a thing. He didn’t know what to say. So she broke the silence first.

“Adrien? Are you alright?”

“Yeah, yeah. I was thinking about … about …” He couldn’t say about how bad it is. No, he had to reassure her.

“About what we have to do next.” He managed to get out.

Marinette nodded and he could see her think. Her left hand took her chin, and she looked around her, her blue eyes darting over the mess around them, but clearly not seeing it, as being in another world, trying to find a solution to the problem.

_That expression …, it seems so familiar, like I have it seen before. Countless times before!_

He couldn’t shake the feeling. It was like he knew her very well, although they only recently became close. Like he felt he had to let her think, gather her thoughts, without talking. It was the same when Ladybug was trying to figure out what to do with her lucky charm.

“First we have to make sure the bleeding stops. After that, we have to get out. The fire is spreading, look.” She said, pointing in the direction of the door. Adrien looked, and saw the smoke was starting to enter the library. He nodded, and took of his white shirt.

* * *

 

She saw that Adrien wanted to take of his shirt.

“Wait, you don’t have to use your shirt! I mean, it is nice of you, but then it gets blood all over it, and I don’t think your dad will like that, because it is Gabriel clothing, and it isn’t cheap, and …”

Adrien interrupted her rambling.

“It is no problem, really. You don’t have to worry about my father.” And before she could protest, he ripped it in strokes, to make a bandage.

_His hands are so soft_ she thought, while he was rapping his makeshift bandage around her leg. When it was secure, he asked “can you stand?”

She wasn’t sure she could.  But she had to try, otherwise Adrien had to carry her, and maybe she was to heavy, or they would be to slow to outrun the fire and escape. But what if she couldn’t? What if, because of her, they couldn’t get out in time? What if …

“Marinette? Hey, are you alright?”

“Yeah, just, thinking. Can you help me get up though?” she asked, not sure she could do it herself. She looked in his beautiful green eyes, and felt a blush creeping up her cheeks. He was just so perfect, so …

She mentally slapped her. _No, this is not the time to admire Adrien! There is a freaking fire, and I’m sitting on the ground, getting lost in his eyes! Get yourself together Marinette!_

Adrien didn’t answer, but putted his hands under her arms, and almost lifted her up. Once she was on her feet, she still felt his around her shoulders. She looked at him, and wanted to ask what he was doing, but he said “Just in case … so you don’t fall down again.”

She almost wanted to argue with him about it, but heard the concern in his voice. She realised he was just worried about her. So, she let out a sigh, and try to place her weight on her right leg. She immediately had to bit back a scream of pain, and would have fallen on her knees, if Adrien hadn’t hold her upright.

“Mari …” He said. She looked at him, leaning on him to stay upright. His eyes were full of worry, and she could see him think what he could do now. His expression was pretty familiar. He looked a lot like …Chat, she realised, when he was thinking, and with his hair a bit messier. True, her hair was probably to, but still … the resemblance was almost scary! Almost too perfect!

_Impossible,_ she thought, _Adrien couldn’t be Chat! It is just a coincidence._ But in the back of her head was a little voice that kept going on about the ‘what ifs’, but she just ignored it.

She woke up from her thoughts, when she felt Adrien’s arms under her back and legs, and he was just about to lift her up.

“No Adrien, put me down!” she said, fiercer than she meant.

He looked puzzled at her.

He looked puzzled at her.

“Adrien, I … I don’t want you to carry me.” She saw he wanted to protest, but went on “If you do, I am not sure how long you can, and it will be more difficult to move around. I think it will be better if you just support me, so I don’t have to put my full weight on my leg.”

He was silent for a few seconds, and then nodded. He immediately putted his left arm around her, and pulled her right one over his shoulders, so her injured leg (her right one) was between them. Like this they tried a few steps.

Her ankle still hurt, but it was bearable, when he supported her like this. They soon reached the library doors, and saw how much smoke was coming from them.

“The doors are blocked by the rubble. I already tried to open them.” Adrien said.

“There has to be a way to get out. We could maybe break the window.”

The doors were made from brown wood, and half way up, they had a glass window. They could reach it, and it was wide enough to let them through, but they would probably end up having scratches from the glass.

“I go look for something. You sit down.” Adrien said, gently setting her down, and he run of to get something. Marinette wanted to protest, but she knew she couldn’t get far on her own now, so she had to rely on Adrien. Not that she didn’t trust him, far from it. He was one of the most reliable guys she knew! It was just that she didn’t like to feel useless. She didn’t like to feel that she could do nothing.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I know many were waiting for what happens next between Sabrina and Chloe, but I haven't found the perfect scene yet!  
> I promise to update as soon as possible, and the Chloe vs Sabrina will most likely be in the next chapter  
> (I hope!)  
> Thanx again for reading!


	5. Argument

“Sabrina! Are you coming or what?”

“No!”

“What do you mean no? Sabrina, get your ugly shoes over here! You have to comfort me as long as my poor Adrikins isn’t safe!” she said, with a dramatic sigh.

“No, I am not going to do what you say anymore Chloe! I’ve had it, all your insults about me being nothing! I am someone, and without me, you would still be in the 8th grade, because you don’t do homework, and you can’t do it, and you are just an annoying little spoiled brat!”

Chloe looked speechless for a minute, blue eyes with heavy make-up wide and her lips parted. The whole class in fact, looked frozen, not expecting Sabrina to stand up for herself like that!

Sabrina had always been Chloe’s shadow, doing everything for the blond girl, and following her everywhere. Chloe also often offended Sabrina, but then she never answered these words. Now, after those 4 sentences, it was pretty clear that the shy girl had changed.

“What do you mean with that Sabrina? You know I don’t put up with such an attitude, and especially not from you! It is already bad enough that those losers won’t respect me, but you? I expected more of …”

“Just shut up Chloe!” Sabrina said, crossing her arms. This seemed to startle the mayor’s daughter. She immediately shut up, and froze.

“I … I will not be your friend anymore! The rest of the class is right! I don’t know why I didn’t do this sooner, but they are right. And you are wrong about Marinette! She is the most amazing person I have ever met, and the one who is always ready to help everyone! She is in every way better than you!”

The class choose this moment to step behind the red-haired girl, to show their support. The blond girl looked for the first time in her life like she didn’t know what to say or to do. She just looked at her classmates (if you could call them that).

“Wh … What? Sabrina you can’t be serious, to choose these … these … peasants over me! I have been your ONLY friend for years! Without me, you would still be alone!”

“No Chloe.” Nino said, stepping forward. Nino had always been in the same class with Sabrina, Chloe and most of his classmate’s. He indeed recalled that Sabrina had always been with Chloe, but Chloe had treated her from early on more as her slave than as her friend.

“You’re wrong” he continued “You were always with her, and because you were always mean to others, you scared everyone away from both of you. Sabrina is a nice girl, who would have had many friends, if she wasn’t so hung up on you!”

“You are so wrong, you stupid DJ! You are lucky my Adrikins wants to be friends with you! Everyone would have been my friend, if it weren’t for that stupid baker girl with her stupid pigtails and stupid, fake sweetness! I was the only one who saw her for who she really was: a fake! She did everything, just to become popular, so everyone would love her, and was always mean to me!”

“She wasn’t, Chloe” Alix said “You were! You were jealous of her, and because of that, you saw her the way you wanted, so you could never feel bad in treating her the way you did and still do!”

“You … you are lying!” the blond said, with tears in her eyes now. “you all are!”

The whole class shook their heads.

“This is ridiculous, utterly ridiculous! Wait until I tell Adrien! I’ m sure he will understand!” Chloe was now really shouting, and it drew the attention of the other students and the grown – ups who were standing a few meters away.

“What’s going on here?” Mrs Bustier asked, walking over to her class. She had been their homeroom teacher for a few years now, and know precisely how all the relations were in her class. Although she tried to be objective with each argument between her students, she always, when Chloe was involved, looked at the blond first, and mostly she was right. She had, however, enough professionalism to not show it, appearing completely objective.

The class looked behind them, and saw everyone staring at them, curious about the argument. Although almost the whole school knew who Chloe Bourgeois was, not everyone knew how she really was.

“come on, tell me. Alya? Nino? Rose?” the teacher said.

The students looked at each other, and came to a silent agreement that Alya had to do the story.

“Miss, Chloe said some mean things about Marinette, and then about us, and we just defended ourselves, and Marinette. Also, Sabrina stood up to Chloe too both for us as for Marinette as for herself.” Alya knew there was no need to repeat the words that were spoken.

“I see.” Mrs Bustier said, standing now between Chloe and the class, so she could face all of them. “I understand you all wanted do defend your points, although you could work on your timing. Fighting isn’t going to get Marinette and Adrien out of the school right now, and do you honestly think they would want you to fight?”

Everyone just looked down, processing their teacher’s words. They all felt shame creep up, knowing Marinette would never wanted this.

Before anyone could say something, they were all startled by a third explosion, the strongest yet.”

* * *

 

 Adrien ran back, to search a heavy book to throw through the window of the door. He also tried to process what happened, because was a bit surprised how Marinette had acted. She was less shy, and fiercer than she normally was around him. She reminded him of how Ladybug could be.

Ladybug … the thought of his partner and love of his life made him think about how handy it would be to have her right now. She would evacuate them within seconds. It would be nice to see her again, but she would not recognize him as Chat Noir.

 _Plagg! I still need to find him!_ Adrien thought. Chat Noir would also be more practical right now. Then he would just scoop Marinette up, and carry her outside. She wouldn’t question his strength as Chat!

He had to admit, it hurt a bit to hear that she thought he wouldn’t be strong enough to carry her, but he saw she had a point. Now he could sweep her up when walking was difficult, he was just saving his strength.

He ignored the urge to call his kwami, knowing Marinette could hear him, and trusting Plagg to find his way back to Adrien.

Just when he had that book, he saw a flash of black before his eyes, realizing it was his friend. Plagg came crashing down in on his shoulder, before looking at his chosen, with tiredness in his green eyes.

“Plagg” Adrien whispered, afraid Marinette would hear, “Are you alright?”

“I’m fine kid, just exhausted. You wouldn’t happen to have cheese with you?”

Adrien just chook his head. “no, it is still in my schoolbag. Why? Are you already hungry?” he asked teasing.

“Look kid, I have used a lot, and I mean A LOT of energy to get out of your stupid bag, and out of the rubble, to find you, so yes, I’ m hungry.”

Adrien chuckled quietly.

“Anyway kid, what are you doing with that book?”

“oh” Adrien realised he still had it in his hands “I had to find something to break the glass in the library door, to escape with Marinette. Hey, now I can transform and save us!”

“I’m sorry Adrien, you can’t”

“What? Why not?”

“Because I’ m out of energy.” Plagg said, and Adrien saw that he was, for once, dead serious.

* * *

 

Marinette was still sitting next to the door, waiting for Adrien to return.

“Why is it taking so long?” she mumbled, more to herself than anyone else. She replaced her hands to change the position she was currently sitting in, and bumped into her purse. She heard a soft ‘aw’, and immediately opened it, to check on her little red-blackspotted friend.

“Tikki, are you alright?” Marinette asked softly. She now remembered her purse (with Tikki in it) had also been lying under that bookshelf, but luckily at her left side, so it wasn’t crushed by it. Still, she felt guilty for not checking on her kwami sooner. It must have been visible on her face, because Tikki said

“I am, don’t worry Marinette! I am tougher than I look.”

Marinette smiled to her kwami “I know Tikki, but that doesn’t stop me from worrying about you.”

Tikki smiled back at her chosen, before coming out of the purse, to look into Marinette’s bluebell eyes.

“I know you do Marinette, but I think you better worry about yourself! You can’t walk right now, you’re hurt!”

Marinette let out a sigh. She knew that. Everyone kept telling her that she had to worry about herself as much as she did about others, especially her family or friends. But it wasn’t that easy for her, to change that. She was so used to be helping others, that she found it strange she was now dependent of someone, especially Adrien! If she was Ladybug now, she wouldn’t be so useless. Ladybug would …

 _That’s it!_ She thought.

“Tikki, I think Ladybug would be better now, so what do you say?”

To her surprise, her kwami just shook her little head, her antennas shaking even harder.

“It isn’t a good idea Marinette! You would still be injured, and although I can support your leg a bit, it will be even more injured after you transform back! Besides, how are you going to explain Adrien that Marinette is gone, but Ladybug is standing in her place?”

Marinette wanted to say something to persuade Tikki, but didn’t, and thought about what her kwami said. It made sense, it would be difficult to explain without revealing her secret identity.

“You’re right Tik .. Tikki?” the girl said, looking around. But her kwami was gone.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> And here it is! The next part of Chloe vs Sabrina!  
> And were could Tikki have gone? Will Plagg be alright when he doesn't have his camembert?
> 
> Thanks for reading, and see you all in the next Chapter!


	6. Escape

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Marinette and Adrien escape the library

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hello everyone!  
> sorry for staying away that long, but I had a lot of things to do, so I just finished the 6th Chapter  
> Anyway, I hope you enjoy!

Marinette looked around her, searching for her little friend. She just wanted to whisper the kwami’s name, but didn’t, fearing that Adrien might hear her, and figure out her secret identity. She was still looking around when she heard a voice.

“Marinette? Everything alright? Are you looking for something?” Adrien asked, looking down at her. She almost jumped up in surprise, not expecting this. She didn’t even hear him coming back. He was so stealthy, almost as stealthy as Chat Noir, who also could move with a cat-like stealth.

_Coincidence_ she thought. _Probably._ She didn’t want to think about it right now.

Adrien was still looking at her with his beautiful, no, stunning green eyes, waiting for an answer. She felt a little blush creep up on her cheeks, as she stuttered an answer.

“yeah, fine am I, I mean, I – I am fine, you know, a – as fine as I can be in these circumstances, a-are y-ou?” she let out a soft groan. Why could she hardly think strait when he was looking at her like that? Adrien didn’t seem to have heard the last question, or he choose to ignore it. Whatever it was, Marinette was grateful he did.

_Good thing Tikki seemed to hear him._

She realised that that the reason was why Tikki so suddenly had disappeared, to hide herself probably back in Marinette’s purse. She quickly glanced at it, seeing the red sprite in it, and closed her pink, self-made purse, before looking back at Adrien. He was still looking at her, but not really focussing on her, or something like that. As if he was looking at something that wasn’t there. She could see the troubled look on his face, that there was something on his mind.

Given the circumstances, she could understand. They were stuck in a library, while a fire was spreading, and she couldn’t walk or run, so plenty of things to worry about. But she couldn’t shake the feeling this was about something else, she just couldn’t put her finger on it.

“You found something?” Marinette asked. As in an answer, Adrien held the book up.

_Real smooth Marinette! It was obvious!_ She mentally slapped herself. How could she ask such a stupid question? Why did she embarrass herself always in front of her crush? Why …

“I hope it will be heavy enough to break the glass.” He said, snapping Marinette out of her thoughts, and he threw the book. It hit the door with a loud crash, but when the two teens looked at it, it only had cracked.

“Damn it! I thought it was heavy enough to go through.” Adrien said. “Maybe I didn’t throw it hard enough.”

“Try again, Adrien. It already cracked, maybe it needs another blow.”

Adrien nodded, picking up the book again. Marinette noticed it was a physics book. A small part from her was glad it was a physics book that was used. Physics was such a stupid subject. It was …

_No, focus Marinette! You can get revenge on physics later_

She couldn’t help but wonder why Adrien liked the subject so much.

_If we get out of here, I will ask him_ she thought.

She shook her head to clear her thoughts. This was not the time to wonder things about Adrien liking physics. She had to focus.

She was snapped back to reality when she heard glass chatter. She looked to the source of the sound, and saw that the glass in the door had broken. There was a gap in it, hopefully big enough for them to get through.

* * *

 

When Adrien came back to the door, with a heavy book in his hands. A physics book, he noticed. He almost felt bad, for using it for this, but, he thought, this proves physics can save your life. He chuckled quietly by that thought. It distracted him a bit from what Plagg had told him, about not being able to transform. It made things more complicated. As Chat Nior, he could easily cataclysm away the doors, and get out with Marinette in his arms. He could always say to Marinette that Chat had seen the fire, and came to check if someone needed help, and that Adrien had told him about Marinette.

But when Plagg had no energy, he didn’t know what would happen when he should transform. He didn’t even want to know if he wanted to know.

When he saw Marinette again, he saw that she was looking around, looking for something.

_Maybe she is looking for me. I was gone for a few minutes,_ he thought.

When he was near, she still didn’t notice him, so he just asked her if she was alright. She seemed to be surprised by it, and almost jumped up. He almost felt bad about it, he didn’t want to startle her. He saw she started to blush, but didn’t know what to think of it.

“yeah, fine am I, I mean, I – I am fine, you know, a – as fine as I can be in these circumstances, a-are y-ou?” she said, still blushing, and clearly looking away.

He guessed he was making her uncomfortable, by looking at her like that, but he couldn’t tare his eyes away, worried about what could make her feel like this. He found the last question strange, but he chose to ignore it, and looked in her eyes, looking for an answer, but all he could see were those beautiful blue eyes, like the summer sky. Like Ladybug’s eyes. He still couldn’t shake the feeling he had stared in those eyes before, but not as Adrien; as Chat Noir. But that would mean that Marinette was Ladybug, and, he thought, he would certainly have noticed that.

He was still looking at her when she asked:

 “You found something?”

He held the book up as answer. He wondered briefly why she would ask the question. Maybe she just wanted to be polite. Maybe she just wanted him to stop staring.

“I hope it will be heavy enough to break the glass.” He said, and he threw the book as hard as he could. He saw it hit the glass, but only a crack appeared. Figures, why would things be easy when they could easily be hard.

“Damn it!” he cursed “I thought it was heavy enough to go through.” Adrien said.

“Maybe I didn’t throw it hard enough.”

“Try again, Adrien. It already cracked, maybe it needs another blow.” Marinette said, encouraging him to try again. He looked at her, to see faith in her eyes, faith in him. He nodded to her, and smiled to let her know he appreciated it.

After a few hits, the book finaly went though with a loud noice. Both he and Marinette were looking at the gap.

“I hope it is big enough. Although I fear we will have some scratches” Adrien said, pointing at the gap, with still little pieces of glass in the frame.

Marinette nodded, but he could see there was something on her mind. She had looked calculating at it, as if she had thought of something he didn’t.

“What are you thinking?” he asked, which made her look at him.

“oh, eh …” she was looking for the right words, he knew that, so he let her sort her thoughts.

“I was just thinking, I can’t climb through it, and maybe it isn’t big enough. And …”

Adrien was in front of her with 2 steps, he crouched down in front of her, and put his hands on her shoulders. He sensed she was about to ramble about a whole lot of ‘what if’s ‘, and he just wanted to comfort her. She looked at him, and he saw the uncertainty written all over her face. It seemed familiar, and he briefly remembered how he had comforted Ladybug 2 years ago during Stoneheart, when she thought she couldn’t do it because someone (agent Roger) told her she already failed once.

_Why does this feels so familiar? This is Marinette, not Ladybug. Why does de doubt in her eyes seem all the same?_

“Marinette, listen to me. I don’t know what is on the other side, but I know if we don’t try, we are doomed. We can do this, but we have to work together. Trust me on this, okay?”

* * *

 

“Trust me on this, okay?”

When Marinette heard those words, she remembered immediately when Chat had said those same words, those _exact_ same words to her, when Ivan was acumatised into stoneheart. He had encouraged her to continue, despite the doubt the others had in her. He had looked at her, with his green cat eyes full of confidence in her, as if he knew something she still had to discover.

_Why would he choose the exact same words Chat used to calm me? Does he know? How does he even know these things? Unless …_

_Unless Adrien is Chat!_

The moment she thought it, she also thought it couldn’t be! They were so different, at least their personalities were. But their appearance? Both of them had blond hair and green eyes, and were about the same height. True, Chat’s hair was messier, but that could be from the transformation. She still wasn’t sure yet, and even if she knew, if she said anything, she had to explain how she knew, and she would have to tell him she was Ladybug, …, and she didn’t want to disappoint him.

“I … I guess you’re right. Sorry.” She said

“okay, then we can think about how we could get out of here.”

She immediately looked at the door, and the gap.

_How could we get out? I can’t climb, but maybe …_

“I have an idea” the blue-haired girl said. Adrien looked at her.

Marinette ignored the gaze and continued “if you can lift me in the frame, I can let myself down on the other side. I think I can manage to land on one foot, and stay up until you get through.”

She could see Adrien overthinking the plan, before nodding.

“I think it could work. I don’t see another option.  But het pieces of glass …” He said but Marinette cut him short

“I know Adrien, but we don’t have another choice, do we? Besides, I think I can handle a bit of glass. If I am careful, everything will be fine.”

Adrien looked at her “you’re right. I … I just worry about you, you know? You are one of my best friends and I .. I don’t want anything to happen to you” he said, glancing at their feet. Marinette putted a reassuring hand on his shoulder, sensing he needed support. He looked thankful at her, before standing up and pulling Marinette to her feet.

They walked together to the door, Adrien supporting Marinette, and Adrien lifted Marinette onto the doorframe. She winced when her arm grazed one of the glass pieces, but just lifted her legs through the gap, and jumping down to the other side.

She managed to land, but her right foot briefly touched the ground, making her hiss. She tried to keep quiet though, so Adrien wouldn’t worry about her. Well, not worry too much. She watched when he climbed through, and he came standing next to her. For the first time they could see the school: it wasn’t at all what they expected.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thanks for reading! How do you think it will go on from here?  
> As always, leave your comments below!


	7. As the walls close in on you

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Adrien is worried  
> Tikki is worried
> 
> basicly everyone is

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey guys, I' back with a new chapter!  
> I hope you enjoy!

The school was in one word a mess. They could see the smoke coming from the chemistry lab, and the flames too, but it was luckily still in the lab. There was rubble everywhere, and the stairs that led to the courtyard were blocked by it. There was dust everywhere, and some lonely backpacks were still lying on the ground, from the students that left them when they fled.

Marinette and Adrien just looked at it, not able to say anything. It slowly registered that they didn’t have a way out; all the exits were blocked or they couldn’t reach them. They escaped the library, but they were now stuck on the second floor of the François Dupont College.

“what … what are we going to do now?” Marinette asked, and Adrien could hear the fear in her voice. Clearly, whatever confidence she had, was now disappeared. He could understand her, it was a pretty hopeless situation.

“I don’t know” he answered. He saw Marinette looking around, maybe for an escape. It gave him an idea.

“okay Marinette, I will have to put you down, so I can see if I can find a way out.”

He saw her hesitate, perhaps she didn’t want to be left alone. He almost wanted to say he would stay with her, or he would take her with him, but she just nodded.

“If you want, I can stay” he still offered.

Marinette shook her head “no, you go. I wait here for you.”

He wanted to say he that he would take her with him, but she seemed to guess what he wanted to say, and cut him of.

“No, you’re faster without me, and it will be good if my foot has some rest.” She answered, and gestured him to go. Before he could change his mind, he ran to look for an exit.

He was surprised that she knew him that good, she seemed always nervous around him, or maybe he was just so easy to read. It reminded him of his Lady, how she always seemed to know what Chat Noir wanted to say. He found it strange that he had this kind of connection with Marinette.

He shook his head, to clear his thoughts. Now was not the time to think about Ladybug, or about all of this. He had to focus, to find a way out of this mess. Because if he didn’t … he didn’t want to know the answer to that!

* * *

 

When Adrien left, Marinette let out a sigh. She had to convince him to go, it was for the best. She didn’t like to be alone though, but this was the only way to talk to Tikki, maybe she had an idea on how to get out.

“Tikki?” Marinette whispered, when she opened her purse. The kwami stayed inside, to avoid being seen, but she could talk like this with her chosen.

“yes Marinette” the red spirit answered

“we’ve got a major problem Tikki. All exits are blocked, we can’t get out! And with the fire spreading … we have to, and …”

Marinette groaned and putted her head in her hands. “this is hopeless Tikki”

“It isn’t Marinette! There is always a solution to a problem! I’m sure there is a way out!”

“but which way? I mean, the stairs are blocked, and we can’t just jump down from here.” She sighed “it would be so much easier when I could transform into Ladybug. I could just swing us out of here. Are you sure I can’t transform right now Tikki?”

“Marinette, please don’t! Your secret identity is at stake! And you’re injured! You could get even more injured if you transform!”

“shh Tikki. Adrien might hear you.” Marinette said, looking around to spot Adrien.

“sorry” the kwami said “but I hope you understand my point.”

“yeah, I get it Tikki, but I rather get more hurt than risk Adrien’s life. I am a hero! I am Ladybug, my duty is to save lives.”

“I know, Marinette, but I care about you! Let’s … “the little kwami thought for a second before continuing “Let’s just wait a bit more. When it is absolutely necessary, and there are no other options left, you can transform. But for now, please wait.”

Marinette wanted to argue more, to prove to her little companion wrong, but when she opened her mouth to speak, she just stopped. Even if she thought she was right, it didn’t make her kwami wrong. But still … it would be a lot easier when she could just swing her yo-yo around a pole or something, and they could swing just out.

_Swing out …_

Marinette’s gaze fell on a pile of rubble

“that’s it!” she cried out! “I’ve got it! I know how we can get out! Tikki …”

But before she could continue, the ground started shaking, and she heard the loudest explosion up till now

* * *

 

Adrian ran, looking for a way out. He thought of the other stairs, and went to check them out. But when he reached them, he saw that the metal stairs that led to the first floor were blocked by rubble, and further down completely crushed. The only way down, was to jump.

He could maybe make it, to jump down from here. Some of the agility he had as Chat Noir, he had gained as Adrien. But Marinette would still be stuck on the second floor, and he just couldn’t leave her there. He couldn’t jump with her in his arms, and he wasn’t sure he could catch her if she jumped. It was more likely that she got more hurt, probably both of them would.

He shook his head. Why would she do that? Sacrificing herself for him? sure, he would have done it, but for him it was different. He was Chat Noir, it was his duty to protect civilians. It wasn’t hers. So why?

He knew the answer to that question. It was Marinette. She would never leave someone behind if she could do something about it. she always cared first about others, then herself.

She reminded him a lot about his Lady. Ladybug was the same, always putting others before her. If she was hurt, she wouldn’t want someone to worry about her either. He chuckled softly. He was sure, that if he ever had to pick a superhero, it would be Marinette. He would pick no other! She and Ladybug would probably like each other, both strong girls. They would make a deadly combination. They would be unstoppable.

Adrien was shaken roughly out of his thoughts, when the ground started to shake underneath his orange sneakers. He heard the loud noise of a third explosion, the loudest up to now. His first instinct was to find shelter, and he jumped into a corner, were the walls still looked sturdy. Hopefully Marinette did the same.

_Marinette! She can’t hide! She can’t walk by herself!_

Adrien screamed her name, and he wanted to leave the shelter he’d found, but was stopped by a raspy voice, coming from his shirt. A little black head with bright green eyes popped up, looking at the blond model.

“Don’t do that, kid. You know it isn’t a good idea.”

“But Marinette. She can’t walk! I have to help her!”

“Don’t be stupid now kid. What if you got hurt now? That wouldn’t help anything.”

“But she … she can get more hurt! Even worse, she could …” he just couldn’t finish that sentence.

“don’t think about that now, kid. Marinette is a smart girl, I’m sure she is fine.”

Adrien just nodded

When the shaking stopped, the school was deathly quiet. It took Adrien a second to collect himself, before he started running back. The rubble on the path made it more like an obstacle course, and Adrien jumped over almost all the blocks, ran around them, everything to get to Marinette.

When he came back, he gasped at the scene in front of him. there was more rubble everywere, and a lot of smoke. It took him a second to realise the fire had spread even more, so they had to get out as fast as possible. He was looking around, trying to find Marinette, but he found no trace of her. Growing more worried (maybe terrified was a better word), he started to shout her name.

“I – cough cough – ‘m here A- Adrien” a raspy voice said, coming from his left.

He turned around and saw Marinette standing, holding herself up against a wall. She looked bad, but he assumed he looked bad to. She was covered in dust, and she had some tears in her clothes, with bloody scratches underneath. She stepped out of her hiding place, but fell immediately on the ground.

“Marinette! Mari! Are you alright?” he ran to her, and lifted her so she could lean into his arms.

She nodded, and cough some more. His eyes darted to her injured foot, and his eyes went wide. Her ankle was more swollen than ever, and almost half of the makeshift bandage was red.

“your foot! Marinette, what happened?” he asked, not able to tear his eyes away from the injury, and thinking _this is my fault!_

As if she could sense what he thought, she almost shook her head, telling him it wasn’t his fault. Or, he thought she meant that.

“when the explosion came, I just sort of jumped on my feet, and stumbled or limped, I don’t know anymore, it is all fuzzy, and I ran to the safest place I could find. When it was over, I heard you calling.” She answered.

Adrien just hugged her tightly, happy she was alright.

“Adrien, we have to get out of here.”

“I know, but I haven’t found an exit. I’m sorry Marinette.”

“Don’t be! It isn’t your fault” she shot up, and moved to look at him, strait into his eyes

 _Those blue eyes …_ he thought, before focusing back on her.

“Adrien, I have an idea on how to get out. See that pile of rubble over there?” she asked, pointing at the one behind her. Adrien nodded.

“it kinda looks like a stair. If we could get on the roof, we can go down the fire escape that is located there.”

“That’s a great idea Marinette.” He said, surprised with this. How couldn’t he have thought of it? “but your foot? How …”

“We can do it!” she said, full of confidence.

He wanted to answer, but the sound of a ringtone cut him off

* * *

 

“No … nooo!” Sabine screamed, falling to her knees. Tom tried to comfort her, but he wasn’t looking good either.

When the sound and shaking of the explosion was gone, no one said a word. They were all terrified, shocked, frozen or something in between. Sabine’s scream seemed to wake everyone out of their trance.

“Marinette … Adrien …” Alya said, unable to say anything else. Nino, standing next to her, just looked at the school, hoping his friends would miraculously appear in front of him.

“Where are the firemen? They should have arrived minutes ago.” Mr. Damocles said, to nobody in particular.

“My little girl. She is still alive, I know it” Tom said, putting his hands on his wife’s shaking shoulders

“maybe …” Max started. Everyone looked at him, hoping he’d have a solution or something.

“Maybe we can try to contact them again. I know Adrien’s phone has a dead battery, but Maybe Marinette’s still works. Although the chance is …”

“I don’t care what the chance is. I just call her and we’ll see!” Alya said, taking her phone to call her best friend, hoping that she would pick up.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Adrien is still oblivious, but Marinette is too  
> Maybe Tikki is a bit too worried, maybe not  
> And where are those firemen?


	8. Deja Vu

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Adrien realizes somethings  
> Sabine realizes something  
> And Marinette is a bit angry at Adrien ... but doesn't stay very long (of course!)

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey everyone!  
> first of all, I want to thank you all for the comments and kudos! I never expected over a 100 on my first fanfic!  
> Anyway, here is the 8th chapter, I hope you enjoy!

Marinette took her phone out of her purse, and threw a comforting glance at Tikki. She saw it was Aya who was calling her, and picked it up, putting the phone on speaker immediately.

 _Marinette? Are you alright? How’s Adrien? Oh god, you won’t believe how scared we were when we heard the last explosion, we thought … we thought …_  her friends voice trailed off.

“Alya, we’re fine!” Marinette practically screamed, everything to make her best friend stop her rant.

Another voice came through the phone

_Marinette, sweetie, you don’t know how happy I am to hear you say that. Are you sure you’re okay?_

Marinette wanted to say something, but Adrien was faster.

“No, she isn’t. Marinette’s foot is hurt, and she can’t walk.”

Both of them could hear the gasps at the other side of the line. Marinette shot an angry look at Adrien, but remaind silent. It would be better if they didn’t argue right now.

_What? Marinette, why didn’t you say something? Why did you … never mind, you kids should get out of there. The fire men are on their way, but an accident has delayed them._

“We will maman” Marinette said. “We can climb up the roof, and take the fire escape at the back of the school to get down.”

_But sweetie, your foot? You think you can do that?_

“Don’t worry mrs. Cheng, if it’s necessary, I will carry her up.” Adrien answered.

It remained silent for a minute. Then Adrien started speaking again, probably to break the silence.

“we’re going to finish the phone call guys, so we can get a move on. It’s getting rather smoky in here.” And with that, he terminated the call.

Marinette looked at him. “Why did you say that?”

“Say what” Adrien looked back, confused.

“that I’m hurt! Adrien, now they are going to worry!”

Marinette couldn’t see why he didn’t get what was wrong with it. She hated it, when people worried about her and if she could prevent it, she always would.

“Marinette, they deserve the truth. She’s you’re mother. There’s nothing wrong when someone who cares about you worries about you.”

“I know, but I just don’t like it.”

Adrien putted his hands on her shoulders “lets just get out of here, okay.”

Marinette nodded, putted her arm around his shoulder, and shifted so Adrien could help her to her feet. But instead, he slipped one hand around her shoulders, another under her knees, and lifted her up. Marinette wanted to protest, but he cut her off.

“I said to your mom I was going to carry you if necessary” he said, and he winked at her. Marinette could feel her cheeks heat up. It wasn’t fair that he could just do that to her! Why was he just so cute?

_And why did it feel so familiar when he carries me this way?_

* * *

 

Adrien couldn’t explain why, but he liked it when Marinette was in his arms like this. He liked to feel her warmth. He couldn’t explain it. it didn’t even make sense! But he likes it. Whether he was Chat Noir or Adrien, he likes it.

He snaps himself back to attention. This wasn’t the time to think about this. He had to focus.

When they reached the rubble, he saw immediately he had to put her down, otherwise they couldn’t climb up the ‘rubble-stair’ (Marinette named it that way). He held her hand, so she had some support to stay balanced on foot, and climbed the first ‘stair’. He pulled her up, and they continued this pace, working together like a well-oiled machine. He heard her groan softly from time to time, but decided to ignore it. He knew she was hurt, so it was probably because of her foot. As much as he didn’t like it, there was nothing he could do, and giving comments about it wouldn’t help at all.

At first, they talked, and said where to go, stand or to hold each other, but after a few minutes, they worked together like they’ve done this stuff for months. Marinette seemed to sense how to stand, and he knew exactly how to hold her. It was … weird. Weird and familiar. This definitely reminded him of Ladybug, or rather, how he and Ladybug worked together. He felt at ease, like he always felt as Chat Noir, but this time without the mask. He felt at ease by Marinette’s side, like he felt every time he was with Ladybug.

Adrien was so lost in his thoughts that Marinette had to scream his name before she had his attention.

“Sorry, what did you say My L- Marinette?”

_Why did I almost say My Lady?_

“What now?” she said, pointing at the next platform they had to get onto. It was more than 2 meters above their heads, and there was no way they could reach it. Not with jumping anyway.

“I – I don’t know, Marinette.” Adrien said, looking at it. He coughs, the smoke was getting thicker. He looked back, and saw the flames catching up to them.

“but” he continued “whatever we do, we have to do it fast.”

He tried to not sound to scared, or nervous. He didn’t want to make her panic, or worried. He looked back at her, and saw she was looking at the pile of rubble above them, trying to figure out a way to get up there. He saw her blue eyes lit up, and instantly knew – how, he didn’t know – that she had a solution.

“I’ve got it! See that metal beam over there? If you can lift me up enough, maybe put me on your shoulders or something, I can catch the beam and pull myself up, and pull you up after it.”

“I guess that could work. But are you sure you can do that?” she looked at him strangely, like he had just insulted her or something. “with your foot I mean.” He added, not wanting her to think he doubted her.

“I’m sure” she said, confidently “to pull me up I only need my arms, right?”

He wanted to answer her (obviously) rhetorical question, but one glance behind him, and he just nodded, knowing it was the only solution. She could not lift him, let alone stand for this. He just had to trust her, and he had no problem with that!

He went to stand behind her, grabbing her by her waist to lift her up. When he stood up, she reached her hands to the metal beam that stuck out of the concrete. But it wasn’t high enough.

“can you lift me higher?” she asked, when he lowered her back to the ground. As much as he hated to admit it, he could not hold her for long like that.

“I can try. Ready?”

“yeah.”

He now grabbed her legs, careful to stay just above her knees (to not touch her injured foot). He felt her effort to maintain balance, and saw her reaching out again. He deliberately didn’t look forward, because friend or not, he was still a boy in puberty, and he was holding a girl (a beautiful one) by her legs, with her backside dangerously close to his face.

“I’ve got the beam!” she screamed in victory, and he felt her pulling her up. He let her legs go, and saw her swinging, to gain momentum to swing up. As he looked at her, a strange feeling of ‘Déjà vu’ washed over him.

Suddenly he wasn’t looking at Marinette anymore, but he saw his lady, in her red suit, swinging from rooftop to rooftop. He shook his head; it couldn’t be.

_Or could it?_

He though of every moment that she reminded him of her, of Ladybug, and it was like evidence was piling up! But still, he couldn’t believe it. but it was possible. They had the same eyes, hairstyle, height. They worked very well together.

A thought crossed his mind

_Maybe Marinette is Ladybug!_

And he found that he wouldn’t mind it one bit!

* * *

 

After the phone call, they just looked at each other. Sure, they knew both of the teenagers were alive, but they found out about Marinette’s injury, and they were worried.

“Tom, what now?” Sabine asked.

“Trust our little girl, Sabine. She is stronger than she seems.”

“He is right ma’am. I am sure they will get out safely.” Alya added.

Sabine nodded, and looked at the group of people in front of her, seeing they all thought the same. Then, her eyes went wide, noticing something, or rather, the absence of someone.

Has anyone contacted Adrien’s father?

Mrs Bustier stepped forward “I tried, but I couldn’t get a hold of him. his assistant was going to pass a message. He was in a meeting or something like that.”

“seriously?” Sabine said. She couldn’t believe that man. A meeting was more important than his son? She was going to have a word with that man when she saw him! even if she had to go in that stupid mansion herself!

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Finaly, the moment we all have been waiting for!  
> And I think Gabriel is in for a hell of a talk! No one messes with Sabine Cheng!


	9. Sirens, fire and fists

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The firemen arrive  
> Adrien realizes Marinette is stronger than she looks  
> Marinette realizes it to

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey everyone!  
> The next chapter is done, so I hope you like it!  
> Thanks for all the kudo's and comments!

Marinette had swung herself on the concrete platform, and was now lying down on her stomach, reaching her hands down to Adrien. Adrien send her a worried look, but she only smiled, hoping he would trust her. She heard him sigh, and saw him jump for the first time to reach her hands. His fingers touched her palms, but she was to late to grab them.

“try again Adrien.” She said. She saw him prepare for the next jump. She braced herself, to pull him up with all the strength she has. A part of her wondered if she even had the strength to lift him up. She hadn’t it in the library, which caused her injury in the first place. Maybe she couldn’t lift him, maybe they would be stuck here. Maybe …

Her attention was snapped back to Adrien, when she felt his fingers close around hers again, only to slide away. She sends him a comforting glance (she hoped it was) and smiled to him, telling him to not give up. The look on his face was determent, and she saw in a flash Chat standing there. It was only for a few seconds, and then it was Adrien again, but it made her wonder if …

Her arms were yanked downwards, when a heavy weight had caught them. It took a few seconds to realize that Adrien had finally took her hands, ready to be lifted up. Marinette braced herself, gathered all her strength and pulled. Adrien was trying to find a place to put his feet, to push himself, help her. She felt sweat on her forehead, and her muscles in her arms were burning, but she knew she couldn’t give up.

Suddenly, one of Adrien’s hands disappeared out of her own. She looked down, fearing he would fall down or something like that, but she saw instead that he had grabbed the same metal beam she had used to swing herself up. She took his left hand with both her hands, and together they pulled, Adrien landing on the same platform as Marinette 30 seconds later.

Both of them were panting, Adrien sitting on his knees, Marinette had turned herself so she could lie on her back.

“Good … good job … Mar … Marinette.” Adrien managed to get out. Marinette gave him a bright smile and thumbs up as answer, not able to say anything. They stayed there for a few minutes, to catch their breath.

* * *

Sabine was still busy with being angry at Gabriel Agreste, Adrien’s father, when the familiar sound of sirens approached. She looked at the direction the noise was coming from, and saw finally the fire brigade and an ambulance coming in the direction of the school.

When they arrived, they ushered everyone to the opposite side of the street, to get them out of the way. The Capitan of the fire men came to the group, asking who the school principle was.

“I am. My name is Mr. Damocles.” Mr. Damocles answered, stepping towards the Capitan.

“Is everyone out of the school building? Is there still someone inside?”

Mr. Damocles wanted to answer, but he was cut off by no other than Alya, who almost screamed her answer at the Capitan, as if she was afraid he wouldn’t hear it if she didn’t.

“No, sir, my friends Marinette and Adrien are still inside! They were stuck in the library when it happened, and Marinette’s foot got hurt, and she can’t walk, and now they are on their way to the roof!”

The Capitan raised one of his black, thick eyebrows, looking at the school principal for confirmation. Mr. Damocles nodded.

“all right young lady. How do you know all of this?” the Capitan asked, walking over to the redhaired girl with tears in her eyes. He could see how terrified she was, for the safety of her friends, so he would try to reassure her, knowing his men could set up and started with extinguishing the fire without him.

“We have contacted them about 20 minutes, maybe half an hour ago, and they told us that they were going to try that. She said that they were going to try and reach the fire escape on the roof of the school.” The girl answered. the Capitan saw a boy with headphones around his neck, and a red cap, who was standing next to her, putting a hand on her back for comfort. Other teens were coming to stand next to her, to have her back.

“all right, I will inform my men, that they have to look out for two teenagers. What do they look like?”

This time, a blond girl with big blue eyes answered his question.

“Marinette has black hair, in pigtails, blue eyes, pink pants and a white T-shirt with brown blazer. Adrien, the boy, looks like that” she said, pointing to the billboard next to the school, which had a picture of Adrien.

The Capitan nodded, turning around to give the necessary orders to his men.

“everything will be fine, dear” Tom said to comfort his wife. She looked at him, both hoping that the baker was right.

* * *

 

“I think we have to go” Adrien said, looking at how the situation on the first floor was. The fire was clearly spreading, almost had reached the second floor. The smoke was getting thicker, making it hard to breath and to see. It was like a veil was thrown over his senses, reminding him he had to get out.

Adrien looked at Marinette, and saw she was as tired as him. Maybe even more than him. He was surprised how strong she was, to have pulled him up like that. He wondered if that was her Ladybug side (if she was Ladybug, he wasn’t sure of that yet).

Marinette’s coughing snapped him back to reality, and he glanced over her. She was covered in dust, and some dirt of the concrete she was lying on. He assumed he looked as bad.

“I think so too” she answered, and manoeuvred herself in a sitting position, so he could lift her more easily.

Adrien stood up, and pulled Marinette to her feet. They continued their climb out, now much slower than they were before, but still working like that well-oiled machine. They didn’t need words to communicate, just needed to look at each other to understand what the other wanted. Still, the exhaustion and the smoke made it harder, especially on the more difficult parts of their climb.

Adrien was sure that he would have liked this kind of parkour when it was in a different situation. He always loved it when he could race over the Parisian rooftops as Chat Noir, to feel the wind in his hair and for once not care what his hair looked like. He loved the feeling of jumping down from tall apartments, and land on another roof, only to feel the adrenaline rush through his veins. He loved those times.

But this wasn’t such a time. Now, Adrien just wanted it to be over, to be on the roof, or better, back on the ground. To be safe. Both him and Marinette. He wanted to save her so desperately, it almost hurt. It was strange, he felt pretty protective of her. Sure, he felt protective off all his friends, but this was more than that. The only person for who he felt the same urge to protect them, was …

Ladybug

It made sense he wanted to protect his Lady; she was the love of his life after all. She was his everything, and he would do everything for her.

But with Marinette … he couldn’t really understand it. Sure, she was nice, kind, talented, and in one word amazing, the only girl he had ever met that could rival with Ladybug. But he didn’t like her the same way as he liked his Lady.

Or did he?

Realisation hit him like a punch in the gut, and he had to force himself to not let the blue-eyed girl see it. He did like her. He couldn’t tell since when, but he did!

The sound of sirens snapped him out of his thoughts. He looked at Marinette, to see on her face that she realised the same thing as he: the fire men were there.

Both were sure their friends would tell the fire men what they were up to, so they silently agreed that they had to at least reach the roof, with their tired limbs. They would see the rest from there.

He lifted Marinette onto the next platform, and wanted to climb up the next, only to see that he didn’t have to anymore. They were standing on the roof.

When he looked back at her, he saw the disbelieve in her eyes. Just like him, she couldn’t believe they made it.

“We … we made it. We did it, Adrien!” She almost started to scream. It occurred to him, that she was right.

What happened next they couldn’t declare. Neither could say why he or she did it, or who started it, all they knew was that it happened. They both raised their arms simultaneously, like someone had pushed a button or something.

 

“POUND IT!”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> dun dun dun duun  
> Finally!  
> How will they react to the fistbump? Let me know what you guys think in the comments!
> 
> I'll update as soon as possible!


	10. Four become Two

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Gabriel is not pleased  
> Marinette is ... wel, Marinette  
> Adrien overdid it

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey everyone!  
> thanks for the kind comments! I really appreciate them!  
> Anyway, I know you all are like, really curious how things will go on, so enjoy the next chapter!

Gabriel was sitting in the back of the silver-coloured car, trying to not curse because of the Parisian traffic. He resisted the urge to yell at the driver to go faster, to damn the traffic lights. It would do no good to his image.

 

Gabriel left his office, to go back to his workroom, where the painting of his beloved Emily was. His head was pounding a little after the meeting with some of his designers, about the upcoming fashion week. He sighed. Why couldn’t those stupid designers understand what he wanted from them? Why did they make things so much more complicated than they could be?

He sighed again, resisting the urge to put his hand on his temple. On days like this, he needed to see the beautiful green eyes of his beloved Emily, even if it was from a painting.

He missed her so much. He wanted her back so badly, not only for him, but also for Adrien. He was so much like her. He inherited her looks, and many of her character traits. Sometimes, it was almost painful how much they were like each other.

When he entered his workroom, he found Natalie standing there. She looked tense, which was strange. Normally she had a professionally and neutral face and posture, but not now. Something was not right.

“Natalie? What are you doing here?”

“Sir, Adrien’s homeroom teacher, Mrs. Bustier, has called you while you were still in your meeting. Apparently, something happened in the François Dupont college, and now there is a fire. Both Adrien and another girl – Marinette Dupain-Cheng – are still inside and …”

“What? Why haven’t you called me immediately? Get met the car, now!”

Natalie nodded, and ran away, to call Gabriel’s driver.

 

Now, in het backseat, he was cursing himself for letting his son go to that damned school. He knew nothing good could come from it! he knew it! Adrien was safe at home, this proved it!

The car rounded a corner, and he saw the fire men standing in front of the school

* * *

 

Marinette froze, and looked at Adrien. She was unable to move, partly because he was still holding her upright. All she could do was look. Look at his face, look in his eyes. She saw that he was as shocked as she was, almost saw the wheels turning in his head, to piece two and two together.

The smoke was blown in their face, but still, she was unable to move. It blocked Adrien for a few seconds though, and shocked was putting it lightly when she could see him again. Looking at Adrien, his features started to melt together with Chat Noir’s, and finally everything clicked in place. Everything made sense. And yet, it wasn’t possible! It wasn’t possible that her crush and her kitty were the same person! She couldn’t believe it!

 _It couldn’t be_ , she thought, _I’m just imagining things. Everyone knows Ladybug’s and Chat Noir’s fist bump. It can be coincidence! Yeah, that’s it, a coincidence!_

She just wanted to say something, anything to break the silence, but then she saw what she never could have imagined. At least, not with Adrien.

Adrien smiled, no, grinned at her, like a Cheshire cat, with blinking, green eyes.

“Hello, My Lady”

Everything collided. Her two worlds just collided in her head. It was such an overwhelming feeling, so much, too much.

She never expected this. She was so surprised by Adrien’s reaction, that she stepped backwards, and she let out a squeak. Unfortunately, when her right foot (her injured foot) met the ground, she couldn’t put any weight on it. she fell backwards, arms waving everywhere to find support. She saw Adrien reaching for her hand, and everything went black.

* * *

 

Adrien stood still, looking at the blue-eyed girl. He saw she was shocked, just like him. He knew now, she was his Lady. The heroine of Paris.  Everything made sense to him, every little clue he had ignored, too blinded by his affections for his Bugaboo.

This was why working with her felt so familiar, why they were so good at it. This was why he felt attracted to both Marinette and Ladybug – they were one person! One, amazing, brave, kind, talented girl, just sitting behind him in class, and – oh God he felt stupid for not recognizing his lady sooner!

Everything lined up _purr-_ fectly, He almost laughed om the pun.

He could see the conflict in her eyes, her struggle to admit the truth. He saw her looking at him, at his face, for evidence. If he really was her partner. He could feel her shaking a bit, underneath his hand. He knew he had to say something, but Adrien wasn’t up to that. Adrien wasn’t …

_But Chat Noir is!_

Adrien always felt more confident as Chat Noir, knowing he could say anything that came to his mind. Not having to be perfect, not having to be reserved. Chat Noir was free, could goof around. As Chat Noir, he could be himself!

He switched to his Chat-persona, and grin at her.

“Hello, My Lady.”

That was when he saw it. the realisation hit her. He saw her stepping backwards, out of his grasp. He saw too late that her right foot met the concrete of the roof, and she fell backwards, unable to maintain balance. He heard her squeak, saw her arms waving to find support, but not finding it. He reached out, trying to catch her shoulder, arm, hand, anything, to keep her from falling further.

But he was to late. Her head met the roof, and she fell unconscious at his feet.

“I think you overdid it, kid”

Adrien looked at his kwami, who peeked out of his shirt.

* * *

 

Flashbacks

Marinette had flashbacks.

She relived the moments from the library, from the climb to the roof. She saw herself jumping up from the table, running through the maze of bookshelves and falling books. She saw herself stopping to catch her breath, just before the second explosion.

But is wasn’t with Adrien.

It was with Chat Noir.

She relived everything, but with Chat.

the running, the climb up here, him carrying her, lifting her up.

The moment they did their fist - bump. And right then, Chat Noir transformed (or was it de-transformed, she didn’t know) in Adrien Agreste. Her crush.

She heard his voice, he was trying to say something. She couldn’t hear it, she couldn’t even see him sharp anymore. It was like the sun got covered, the lights put out. Everything went black again.

That was when she felt something. Hands. Hands around her back. Hands under her knees.

She started to hear things. Voices.

She followed them. Back to the light.

* * *

 

A silver-coloured, expensive looking car pulled over at the front of the school.

A man, in classic attire, perfectly coifed blond hair, and glasses that covered ice-blue eyes emerged from it, looking around. When he spotted the group at the other side of the road, he walked over, to Mr. Damocles.

“Mr. Agreste! What an honor! What brings you here?”

“I’ve come to retrieve my son” was the cold answer. Sabine tensed. The way he spoke about his son, the lack of concern, it made her angry. She felt bad for Adrien. He didn’t sound like he was worried about his son’s safety. It was like he was there to get his property back.

“Oh, eh, you see, Adrien is … Adrien is …” Mr. Damocles couldn’t find the words to say it. Gabriel Agreste had always been an intimidating man, and now it was worse.

Mrs. Bustier cut in, answering Gabriel’s question.

“Adrien is still in the school, Mr. Agreste. But I am sure he is …”

“What? MY son is still in there?” the fashion mogul looked like they just asked him to kneel in the dust on the sidewalk.

“I demand that he will be saved this minute!”

 “Mr. Agreste, the fire men are doing everything they can! Both your son and my daughter are in there, but they are on their way out. We’ve had contact with them, they are now on their way to the fire escape on the roof.” Tom said, hoping to calm the man in front of him.

“Then they have to do better! I …”

The fashion mogul was cut short, by a scream. Kim was looking at the roof, and pointing to a spot where he had seen something.

 “Look! On the roof! There is movement on the roof!”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Gabriel is pissing Sabine off! He doesn't know what he is in for yet!  
> And Adrien, your Chat is showing  
> But we all love you!
> 
> Let me know what you guys think will happen next in the comments!


	11. The cat returns

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The first disagreement between Sabine and Gabriel

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey everyone!  
> I want to thank you soo much for the nice comments and all the kudo's!  
> I honestly never expected my first fic to recieve so much!

Everyone turned, looking to the roof. They all could clearly see a silhouette standing there.

“they made it!” Alya screamed, as she jumped into Nino’s arms, and he almost fell. The class erupted in victory cries, happy both of them made it to the roof.

The fire men were looking surprised at the noise behind them, not understanding why they were so happy with the fire, and two teenagers still inside. The Capitan walked over to the group, a bit angry and annoyed with the attitude. The only one who didn’t scream, was the blond-haired man with glasses, standing near the school principle. But he hardly showed any emotion.

“what’s going on here?” he asked, barely keeping his anger in check.

“the roof! They are on the roof!” an exited Alya screamed, pointing at the roof of the school.

The Capitan looked at the students, almost dancing on the sidewalk. He must have had a questioned look on his face, because another student, with short red hair and glasses, said

“She means Marinette and Adrien have made it to the roof! They are safe!”

He turned around, to see a silhouette on the roof, finally understanding the euphoria. He immediately crossed the street again, to order some of his men to save the teenagers on the roof. They ran to the fire truck (which had a ladder) and made it go upwards, towards the roof. One of men was standing in the little platform atop of the ladder, so the teens didn’t have to climb down.

When he reached the roof, he saw them.

The blond-haired boy was crouched down by the girl, who was clearly unconscious. her face was pale, and he could also see the makeshift bandage (at least, he assumed it was) around her right ankle, covered with dust and – was that blood?

He had to get them off the roof fast, the girl clearly needed medical attention, and the boy probably needed it to.

The firefighter, Sandro was his name, called out to them.

“Hey! Young man! Are you alright?”

* * *

 

Adrien almost panicked. He saw her fall, he almost heard her head hit the concrete. He was so fast next to her, that it seemed he had superhuman speed or something.

Wait, actually, he was faster than the average teenager, but still.

He didn’t really understand why she was so shocked, but he has had maybe a longer suspicion that she was Ladybug than she suspected him to be Chat Noir. To be honest, he was pretty shocked to, but not as shocked as Marinette.

Plagg was still looking at the scene from the collar of Adrien’s T-shirt.

“you think she is alright?” his kwami asked, with more concern than he mostly had for something other than his camembert.

“I … I don’t know” Adrien looked at the girl. Her face was pale, but her breathing was steady. He hoped she hadn’t a concussion from her fall, or some other injury.

“hey Marinette! Marinette!” he said, softly tapping her cheek, hoping for a reaction.

Nothing

Adrien started to get really worried. He didn’t know what to do. She needed help, a doctor, an ambulance, a …

_Ambulance_

Of course! They had heard the sirens of the firemen! There was probably an ambulance with them too! He had to get Marinette down as fast as possible! Especially with the fire!

He almost felt stupid, that they had stayed on the roof so long. Who knows if there would be more explosions, or when the fire would reach the roof.

Adrien just wanted to lift Marinette of the roof, to go for the fire escape, when he heard someone call out.

“Hey! Young man! Are you alright?”

Adrien looked at the man who had called out to him. It was a fireman. He was standing on a little platform, which stood on ladder. Or Adrien assumed he did, it would be pretty weird if the platform was floating or something like that.

“Yes, I am. But Marinette, she is …”

Adrien looked back at Marinette’s pale face. How was he going to explain why she was unconscious? He couldn’t say that it was because she was so shocked that he was Chat Noir, could he? His identity had to stay a secret, but he had to come up with a story to explain things.

He looked up when he heard footsteps.  It was the fire fighter, coming to them. He kneeled down next to Marinette, and putted his fingers on her neck.

“she is still alive, don’t worry. But I have to get you both down. It is dangerous here.”

The fire fighter wanted to grab Marinette, but Adrien was faster, pulling her close to him. Now, he wanted to have her close. He had finally found his Lady, he didn’t want to part from her side, not now she needed him. he knew he had to eventually, but as long as possible, he would hold her. He could feel her breath on his arm, and felt relieved. The fire fighter, who introduced himself as Sandro, led them to the platform, to get them down.

When they were both on the platform, it began to descant, and Adrien looked at the front of the school. He could see a group of people standing on the other side of the road, recognizing his classmates, teachers, Marinette’s parents …

_How am I going to explain all this to them? How am I going to apologize?_

He was so lost in his thoughts that he didn’t see his father’s car, or even his father.

* * *

 

Everyone was watching as the ladder went up the roof. No one said a word, all extremely worried. They didn’t know how bad injured both of them were, only that Marinette had hurt her foot.

“what is taking them so long?” Sabine asked, to no one in particular.

“Those incompetent fools should already have saved my son.” Gabriel commented, but his voice remained neutral, like he passed a comment on the weather or something. Sabine looked back at him. he stood with his arms behind his back, like he was just watching people do his work. Nothing showed any level of concern for Adrien’s safety.

Sabine walked over to Gabriel.

“Mr. Agreste, with all due respect, the fire fighters are doing their best to extinguish the fire and save our children. It wouldn’t hurt to show some gratitude, or maybe some concern while you are at it.” she calmly said to him.

Gabriel looked down at the Asian woman. He didn’t expect someone to talk to him like that; let alone someone he didn’t know. He was used to be treated with respect, and although this woman was calm, he could see nothing of that respect in her eyes.

He sighed “look, miss, I don’t know why you think you can tell me what to do. I am concerned for Adrien’s safety, but I also have to think about what the public will think. If I become a crying mess, what do you think the press will think about it?”

“Sir, you don’t have to be a ‘crying mess’ to show concern. I am terrified right now for both Adrien and Marinette’s safety. Adrien isn’t even my own son! And is your imago so important to you? More important than you son?”

Gabriel tensed. He hadn’t expected a reply, and certainly not this! How dare she question his love for his son? How dare she judge him without knowing anything from him, what he went through with the loss of his beloved wife? How dare she?

 He just wanted to put that woman in her rightful place, when everyone erupted into victory cries ones more. Both he and Sabine looked back at the building, to see the platform coming down. She could clearly see that Adrien was standing on it, and she saw he was carrying someone. She covered her mouth, and tears appeared in the corners of her eyes. She slowly strolled over to the fire truck, just in time to see Adrien step on the ground, carrying Marinette in his arms.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> okay, I know you guys all wanted the epic 'Sabine VS Gabriel' Showdown, but I haven't found the perfect one yet.  
> And it has to be epic!  
> If you guys have any ideas, let me know in the comments
> 
> Thank you so much for reading this fic!


	12. The cat gets claws

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Adrien cries  
> Sabine cries
> 
> And Gabriel is an ass (but we already knew that)

The first thing Marinette felt were hands. One just below her shoulders, the other under her knees. She had the feeling like she was on a boat, that moves softly over the waves of the see.

Next, she heard voices. They were distant, but she could hear them despite that. They sounded like victory cries, and she had the feeling she knew those voices. They sounded like … her classmates. But what were they celebrating?

She knew she had to open her eyes, but it was hard. She felt so tired, every muscle in her body hurt. Maybe she could stay like this a little longer, maybe …

No. she had to wake up! Adrien would be worried sick! And she didn’t want that.

So, she tried to open her eyes. A soft moan escaped her, when she tried to move a bit, and with a big effort she opened her eyes.

To find two green eyes staring in them, filled with relieve.

* * *

The platform stopped with a little shock. Both Adrien and Sandro stepped off, to land on the ground. He walked in the direction of the group of classmates and others, who were standing on the sidewalk. He could see them jumping and almost celebrating, and at first, he was angry about it. angry that they were happy when Marinette was hurt. Then again, they were probably happy to see him. happy to see them both, safely out of the burning building. Their happy cries filled him with warmth inside. Suddenly, he felt Marinette’s body stir in his arms.

He immediately looked down at the girl in his arms. Maybe it was because of the abrupt movement, maybe because of the noise, he didn’t know, but he saw Marinette’s eyelids move a bit, and she let out a soft moan. Adrien stopped walking, and just stood there, looking at the girl, wanting to catch the moment she came to. She opened her eyes slowly, as if it took a lot of effort to do so. When she looked at him, he could only look back, and a tired smile appeared on her face.

“Marinette!”

Adrien looked up, to see Sabine, Marinette’s mother, running towards them, tears in her eyes. Tom followed close, and the rest of the class did to. However, he saw a slower moving figure behind the group.

_Father!_

He almost dropped Marinette from the shock. Almost. He had never expected to see his father here. He couldn’t hold Marinette for much longer, so he slowly sank to his knees, letting Marinette lie on the ground, her head resting on his arm, still holding her shoulders for support. He saw that she was looking at her parents, happiness all over her face. For a brief moment, the exhaustion was gone.

* * *

Sabine ran to her daughter, who was carried by Adrien. both teenagers were looking terrible. They were covered in dust, had multiple bruises and scratches and just looked exhausted. She could see Marinette’s pale face, her eyes were closed. Her right ankle was wrapped in some sort of white cloth, covered in dirt and blood. Sabine tried not to panic at the sight.

Adrien saw them, and was walking over to them. But suddenly he stopped, and looked at Marinette, who started to move slowly in his arms.

Sabine saw Marinette slowly opening her eyes. Both of them were just staring at each other, and she saw a smile on both of their faces.

Sabine screamed her daughter’s name, causing Adrien to look up in her direction. She saw his eyes dart over the group behind her, before he froze. Sabine followed his gaze, to see he had seen his father. He clearly didn’t expect to see him here.

As if the shock had drained him from his energy, he slowly laid Marinette down on the ground, still holding her shoulders and supporting her head. Marinette turned her head to look at her mother, and smiled, happy to see her again.

Sabine fell to her knees in front of them, quickly followed by Tom. The rest of the group stayed behind them, looking at them. Probably to give them some space.

“Marinette, how are you?” Tom asked, while Sabine reached out to caress her cheek.

“I … I’m fine. Thanks to Adrien” she answered, with tiredness in her voice. She clearly was still a bit groggy, not 100% conscious.

Sabine looked up, and caressed also Adrien’s cheek, where tears were tracing wet trails through the dirt covering his cheeks.

“Adrien, dear, you don’t know how grateful we are! Thanks to you, our Mari is safe!”

“I’m so sorry Mrs. Cheng. I never meant to … I never …”

Sabine, who was also crying now, just hugged the boy (careful of course, with Marinette still between them), who was clearly in a sort of shock.

“shh, you don’t need to apologise, you have done nothing wrong.” She said, streaking through his hair. He seemed to relax a bit in her embrace, and she vaguely recalled that Marinette once told her that Adrien had lost his mother a few years ago. This probably reminded him of her, but he didn’t seem to have a problem with it. She just held him, let him cry against her shoulder, comforting the poor boy in her arms. The hero who had brought back her daughter. She couldn’t start to imagine what they had endured inside that building.

“Excuse me, madame.”

Both looked up, to find a paramedic looking at them. There was a stretcher next to him. He looked a bit uncomfortable, to have to disturb them.

Sabine stood up, to give the paramedic the space to lift Marinette on the stretcher. Once she was pulled from his grasp, Adrien stood up, grabbing her hand. He kept holding it, both teens just looking at each other while they fastened Marinette. Sabine could see Marinette had a hard time keeping her eyes open.

_She must be really exhausted_ she thought.

* * *

 

When they wheeled her away, Adrien just keep standing there, like a statue. Sabine walked over, putting her hand on his shoulder. Tom did the same on his other side. When he saw them look at him, he knew he must have looked terrible, their eyes full of worry.

“Are you alright, son?” Tom asked.

Adrien wanted to nod, but the tears were falling again. He shook his head. It was like all the fear he had felt, that had been pushed back because of adrenaline and because it was not the time for it, choose this moment to hit him. he felt terrible.

Before he knew it, he was involved into a giant group hug, everyone trying to comfort him. he let out a relieved sigh, and melted into it, tears streaming down his face

“Adrien?”

Everyone let go of him, and looked at his father. Adrien could see in his father’s eyes he definitely not approved of Adrien showing ‘weakness’ like that. He found that he didn’t care what his father thought about the situation.

These tears were for Marinette, for his Lady, because had been so afraid to lose her. He was still afraid that she wasn’t going to be alright, despite knowing how strong she was. It was for the guilt, that she was hurt because she had to save him, and it was his job to protect her.

“yes father?” he answered, whipping his tears away with his fist.

“I believe it is time to go home. Say goodbye to your … friends.” Adrien saw his father slightly cringe by the word ‘friends’. But he also understood the hidden message. His father wanted to pull him out of school! Believing he would protect his son from harm if he locked him up behind that iron fence and the stone walls around his house.

His father turned around, and started walking back at the car, no doubt believing Adrien would follow him. But he had no idea Adrien didn’t even consider this option.

Adrien stood up, still surrounded by his friends and Marinette’s parents. He held his shoulders back, his hands along his sides and clenched into fists. With a firm voice, he said

“No!”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> We are close to the 'Sabine VS Gabriel' showdown, I am just building the tension a bit.  
> Also, poor Adrien!
> 
> Anyway, let me know what you think of it so far, what you guys think will happen and if I can improve things!
> 
> See you soon! Bug-out!


	13. The Cat VS the Butterfly

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Adrien stands up to his father. Do I need to say more?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Okay  
> finally I have a confrontation between both the Agrestes  
> Honestly, it was hard to write, I had many versions wich all missed something, so I really hope you like it!  
> Also, it was difficult for me to write Gabriel, that man is as emotionless as a stone!

Gabriel turned around, to look at his son. He didn’t expect that answer. Sure, some hesitation, or maybe a bit of struggling, but he heard something in Adrien’s voice he didn’t expect to hear.

Authority.

Adrien never spoke with an authoritarian voice, or not to him at least. He mostly obeyed his father, and the few occasions he didn’t were since he went to school. So, Gabriel concluded that it must have been the bad influence from his so-called friends at school, who caused his son to rebel like that.

Which was why it would be better if Adrien was being home-schooled again. He would be safer there, the Agreste mansion was the safest place in the city, especially during akuma attacks. He made sure of that.

With a sighed he turned, ready to give his son a lecture about obedience, that he was his father, and he had to listen to him without objections, especially in public.

What he didn’t expect was seeing his son standing like that, looking him straight in the eye and confidence radiating off him. He had never seen this with Adrien, the boy always seemed shy and a tad insecure. But now, he stood there full of confidence, a fire almost burning in those deep green eyes, and determination written all over his face, and for a moment it wasn’t Adrien, but Emily that was standing there.

Gabriel already knew how much he looked like his mother, but apparently her and Adrien’s character was more similar than he thought.

Gabriel didn’t really know what to do with Adrien’s new-found confidence, didn’t know how to react, how his son would react. He didn’t want a scene on the street, that was for sure. He knew he had to tackle this situation with care.

So, he just settled for a neutral response to his son’s rebellion, to see how Adrien would react. To see how long this confidence was going to last.

“Adrien? I thought I told you to say goodbye to your friends.” He said.

“No father, I won’t! I won’t let you separate me from my friends!”

“Adrien, I suggest we continue this … conversation about your education at home, where we could discuss this matter in private.”

“Father, I won’t let you pull me out of public school, I like it here. And I will not go back to the mansion with you. I will go to the hospital with Tom and Sabine!”

Tom and Sabine? Those names were new to Gabriel. He raised an eyebrow, and his son picked up the hidden message, before he could even ask who they were.

“They are Marinette’s parents.” And he gestured to the people behind him. Gabriel recognized the Asian woman who had spoken so unrespect full to him. He remembered that the woman - _Sabine_ \- had said that her daughter was still inside. Maybe it was because of the fear for her child she lashed out like that. He decided he would let things slide with Sabine.

“Adrien, I understand that you are worried about the girl, but I can assure you she will be taken care of in the hospital. And I am certain that Tom and Sabine will keep you updated about Marinette’s situation, so you have no reason at all to waste your time at the hospital. As for your education, I believe it is best that you return to being home-schooled. It is for your own good.”

“Father, I have every reason to worry. Marinette saved me! If it weren’t for her, I would probably be dead! Because of that, she is hurt, and I am worried, no, terrified that something will happen to her. And I am sure Tom and Sabine will inform me about everything, but I still feel that I have to be there. For her.”

This statement shocked Gabriel. He wondered what had happened inside the school building. What had that girl done that Adrien genuinely believed he had to be there for her?

But if it was true that the girl had saved his sons life, then he was in her debt. He had to be careful with this situation, he couldn’t afford a negative attention from the media or press. On the other hand, if he played his cards right, this could benefit for the _Gabriel_ brand. But this was not the right time to bring this up. Adrien was clearly in shock from the recent events, he had to calm down first. He had to get Adrien home.

“I understand your concerns Adrien, but you still don’t have to be there. It would be better to return home with me, to calm down, get clean and rest. I will make sure you get back into your daily routine, so you can forget what happened. I understand you are under shock now and can’t make rational decisions, but it will be better once you will be busy again.”

For a moment, Gabriel thought he got through to his son. But the answer he got, was nothing he ever expected.

“Forget? Being busy to forget? Like you did with mom?”

* * *

Adrien knew he crossed a line when he brought his mom into the fight. But he didn’t care, his father needed to see what he had done to him, with being so cold and absent. He could see the expression on his face change, from irritated to right out angry. He could see his struggle to keep in control, to not make a scene on the street.

He was very angry with his father. How could he even consider pulling hi out of the school? And back being home-schooled for his own good? For his fathers good, probably. Adrien knew how much his father desired to keep controlling his life. How much his father wanted to protect him. But locking him up against his will?

And his father’s suggestion about forgetting the whole thing! He never wanted to forget how Marinette saved his life! He wanted to go to her, to hold her and tell her how sorry he was that she had to do that for him! He didn’t want to become like his father, escaping his feelings in his work, becoming as cool as an iceberg.

If he wanted that, Adrien knew what he had to do. He had to face his father, to not let him win. He was Chat Noir, a hero. He could handle his father. If he could handle hawkmoth, that his father wouldn’t be a problem, right?

So, Adrien continued, facing his father. He was determent not to blink or advert his eyes.

“And maybe it is your home, but it isn’t mine any more. Not since mom disappeared.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Damn Adrien!  
> Also, Gabriel, shame on you! Marinette isn't even in the hospital, and you already want to use the poor girl for advertising?
> 
> Also, sorry that this chapter is so short, but I have a good idea on how I want things to go, so bear with me okay?  
> Please tell me what you think in the comments, I really apreciate them!
> 
> See you next time! Bug out!


	14. Tears and Words

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Gabriel breaks Adrien  
> Sabine to the rescue!

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> hello everyone  
> before we start, I start at the university agian tomorrow, so I will update less frequent than I did during my summerbreak, so my appologies for that.  
> I will try to update as soon as possible, but how often that is, will depend on how much work I have.
> 
> so have fun readig my 14th chapter!

“And maybe it is your home, but it isn’t mine any more. Not since mom disappeared.”

Sabine let out a gasp when she heard Adrien say that. Sure, she knew how lonely he felt, that he had lost his mother a few years ago, and that is father wasn’t the easiest man on the planet, but this?

She never expected Adrien to feel this way, to show so much … not hatred, but disgust, towards his father. Or even the other way around. It was almost like Gabriel Agreste didn’t feel emotions, but now, she could see him struggle to not become furious with his only son. But she saw also another feeling on his face, although it was a brief moment. It flashed up for a few seconds in Gabriel’s eyes before disappearing again under a lot of layers of calm. Ice cold calm.

It was pain.

He clearly suffered from the loss of his wife, and Sabine understood that it hurt. But he had a son to think about, Adrien also suffered from the loss from his mother. Sabine had seen that a lot with him, whenever he was at their home and Marinette had a moment with her, she could see the pain flash across Adrien’s face. Also, she felt it whenever they hugged, how much he craves for attention.

Gabriel cleared his throat, and everyone looked at him, waiting for his response.

“Adrien, I don’t know where this is coming from, but you clearly aren’t yourself right now. You are in a shock from what happened and it is in your best interest to come home to rest. “

“I already told you, it isn’t home for me anymore. And of course, you don’t know where this is coming from, because you hardly pay attention to me in that cold-ass mansion, unless you want something from me or you have to give me a lecture on something. If you had payed any attention to me, you would have known that I like going to school. That I like hanging out with my friends, which you always seem to forbit me from doing. I do everything you’ve asked me to do so far, without complaining. Why can’t you be happy for once for that? Why don’t you think about my feelings for once? Why don’t you get that I just want to be a normal teenager sometimes?”

Sabine saw the angry tears on Adrien’s face, and knew instantly how angry but also hurt he was by his father. This wasn’t only from the incident in the school, but also from the years of loneliness he had, from how much he missed both his parents. She knew he needed some support right now, so she stood up, and saw Alya, Nino and a lot of others do the same.

But before they could go to Adrien, the older Agreste stepped forward, and putted both of his hands on his son’s shoulders.

He sighed “Adrien, I do care about you, and you know that. You know how proud I am, you are the best model I have had since I started, your grades are perfect, and you’re the best fencer of your class. You know how busy I am with the brand, and it is hard for me to find time for you. And I don’t need to tell you again and again that you do a good job, you know that already. But I also have a reputation to uphold, I can’t slack off, I can’t show weakness. The same goes for you, and with what you did today, you did very well son. I am very proud of you. You are a hero, and it will benefit the company more than you know.”

Sabine couldn’t believe that man! He tried to comfort his son with saying that he has done good for the reputation of his father’s company? He says he is to busy to find time for his son?

Sabine could understand the last part a little. Both her and Tom have busy lives with the bakery, but they have always tried their best to find time for Marinette, especially when she needed it. She just couldn’t understand that man!

Gabriel continued “And remember, you are my son. You are not like the others. You deserve the best education to make you the best of the best.”

Adrien stepped back and brushed his father’s hands of his shoulders, like you would chase an irritating fly away. He stepped back until he almost bumped into Sabine and Tom, while saying

“A good reputation. Of course, you first think of that. The reputation of the company and the Agreste name is always more important than your own son.” He said with a low voice, that held no warmth.

Sabine could feel he really wanted to lash out, but also how sad he was. So, when she was with them, she turned him around, and just hugged him. Tom joined them, and soon they found themselves in a giant group hug again, comforting the hurting teenager.

After a few minutes, they released him, he was still sobbing, but not as hard as a few minutes ago. Sabine saw that the older Agreste reached out to his son, but his face was still pretty much emotionless.

“Adrien …” he started, and Sabine saw how Adrien’s rage returned. She knew another argument was coming, a more heated one at that, but also knew hurtful things would be said between them, and, in her opinion, Adrien had been through enough today.

“Adrien, sweetie, go with Tom. He will drive with you to the hospital, to visit Marinette. Alya and Nino will come to if you want.” She said, as she gently cupped his face. He looked at her through his tears with disbelieve.

“A-are you sure, mo … eh Sabine?” he asked, and he started blushing, no doubt regretting almost calling her ‘mom’. Sabine smiled at him when she whipped his tears away with her thumbs.

“yes, I am sure. You need to see her, to see that she is safe. I will come to, only later, you guys go ahead, I have to lock down the shop first, and take some clean clothes for Marinette.”

Adrien nodded, and before she pulled away, she said “And you know, I don’t mind if you call me ‘mom’. Really.” And she stood on her tiptoes to kiss his forehead.

* * *

Adrien didn’t know what to think of it. one moment he was filled with rage, the next he was sad, crying like a little boy. The moment Sabine took him in her arms was when he broke, not able to hold back anymore. All the pain he had for all those years, flowing out of him with his tears.

He felt hands on his cheeks, and saw Sabine staring at him.

“Adrien, sweetie, go with Tom. He will drive with you to the hospital, to visit Marinette. Alya and Nino will come to if you want.”

For a moment, he saw his mom standing in front of him, like she had done so many times before, when she was still there. It was only a few seconds, and then it was Sabine Cheng again, looking at him with the same expression as she always did when she reassured him. Perhaps it was just a expression all mothers had for their children.

“A-are you sure, mo … eh Sabine?”

He felt instantly shame, that he almost called her ‘mom’. It felt like he betrayed his own, as well as he took Marinette’s mother away, although he knew deep down she wouldn’t mind it. But she didn’t look like she had heard his slip-up.

“yes, I am sure. You need to see her, to see that she is safe. I will come to, only later, you guys go ahead, I have to lock down the shop first, and take some clean clothes for Marinette.”

He let out a sigh, glad she indeed hadn’t heard it, but then she said “And you know, I don’t mind if you call me ‘mom’. Really.”

When he felt her lips on his forehead, he just froze, not knowing what to say. But he felt a firm yet gentle hand on his shoulder, guiding him away. Tom was leading him to the car, Nino and Alya following, after she had promised to keep the rest of the class updated.

* * *

Gabriel watched the scene in front of him. He looked almost bored, but inside him, the emotions were a swirling storm. He had never known his son felt this way. That he was this hurt about Emily’s disappearance.

When he saw the mother of Marinette reassure his son, he almost saw Emily doing it. he was a bit angry, his son chose a stranger over his father? And almost called her mom? It was almost like he had forgotten his mother, had replaced her, but a voice in the back of his mind said that Adrien hadn’t done all that.

He stepped forward, slowly, an heard the woman say that Adrien could go to the hospital with her husband. How dare she interfere with his decision? He was Adrien’s father! She wasn’t even family! How dare she!

He almost wanted to say something about it, to forbid Adrien from going and taking him home with him. Gabriel knew he was rebelling like this due to the influence of his friends, and being at home, not around them anymore, would change Adrien back to how he was before he went to school.

But when he was close enough, he saw the woman shoot a glance at him, that told him to stay where he was. This surprised Gabriel. Normally people would advert their eyes when he looked at them, or at least look with respect at him. since Emily was gone, no one had shot him glances like this, and he didn’t really know how to react without having a scene on the street.

So, Gabriel just watched the man - _Tom_ \- lead his son to his car, followed by two of his friends, one he recognized as the boy who wanted a birthday party for Adrien. He was still watching when they drove away, unaware of the Asian woman who stood beside him. she cleared her throat to get his attention.

“Mr. Agreste, follow me please. I think we have to talk.” She said.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I absolutely love Sabine  
> I almost feel bad to make Gabriel such a hated character  
> oh, wait, he already was. Oops, my bad
> 
> anyway, leave the comments below on what you think is going to happen!
> 
> See you soon, Bug out!


	15. Comfort and hard truths

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Gabriel gets burned  
> Adrien finally can let go of his tears

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey everyone!  
> it has been a while, but I had a hard time figuring out how Gabriel was going to react  
> I hope you like it!

When Tom had parked the car, the three teens and the baker ran inside. Tom just wanted to ask where they could find Marinette, someone behind them cleared his throat. They all turned around to find a nurse standing behind them.

“Are you here for …” she looked at the clipboard in her hands “Marinette Dupain-Cheng? The girl who from the François Dupont college?”

“Yes, we are. I am Tom Dupain, her father.”

“The doctor who is treating her right now send me. I if you would follow me?” she said, starting to walk inside the hospital. Tom, Alya and Nino followed her, but Adrien seemed frozen. It was like he couldn’t move. He didn’t really know why, maybe he was afraid of what he was going to see. Maybe he was afraid of how she would react. Maybe …

“Hey bro, you okay?” Nino asked, putting his hand on Adrien’s shoulder, a little to hard. Adrien flinched a little.

“Ouch. Careful Nino.” Adrien said, and Nino took his hand from Adrien’s shoulder.

“Sorry. What’s wrong?”

“I don’t know. Maybe I hurt my shoulder, and I only start to feel it now, or maybe you just slapped on a bruise or something.”

Both of the boys started laughing, and Nino guided his friend towards the others, who were waiting at the corner of the corridor. They followed the nurse to the 4th floor, and asked them to wait in the waiting room of that floor. She told them that she would come and get them when they could see Marinette, and told Adrien to follow her, so she could take care of his injuries. At first, he didn’t want to go, he wanted to wait for Marinette, but she told him that she would bring him to her together with the others, and that his scratches needed to be taken care of, to prevent infection. So, he followed her to a room where he could be treated.

She motioned him to sit on the bed while she got the supplies she needed. He was alone for a moment, for the first time since they got out of the school. He had stayed strong until now, but in the silence of the hospital room, all the emotions he had cupped up inside, came back. They hit him hard and he lost the strength to fight his tears back. So, he just let it all out. He just cried, like a little kid.

When the nurse returned, she found him crying. She putted down her supplies, and just hugged the boy, knowing he needed it. They sat like this for a few minutes, until his sobbing slowed. She gave him a tissue.

“Feeling better?” she asked, while studying his face. Adrien just nodded.

“You want to talk about it? It might help?” she offered, but Adrien just shook his head. So, she continued.

“You know, I know what has happened at your school. You were very brave, rescuing that girl. You’re a hero.” She said, while sitting down next to him. Adrien looked at her, eyes red from the tears.

“No, I’m not. She is the hero.”

He could see the confused look on the nurse’s face. He then realised that not many people (no one actually, except he and Marinette) knew what had happened inside the school. But he didn’t know if he should tell, he didn’t know if Marinette would want it. He knows she wouldn’t want to take all the credit, didn’t want the be the centre of attention, just like Ladybug didn’t like that. Then again, he would feel relieved if he could tell someone. And he knew that his Lady would always put his needs before her own, and in this case, he really needed to tell someone. And something told him the nurse wouldn’t start and gossip around about is.

He sighed, whipping his tears away. “Y-you see, when we tried to get out of the library, the second explosion made the bookshelves tumble down. I … I slipped, and I crashed into one, and if it wasn’t for Marinette …” he swallowed, his guilt felt heavy, tears burning in his eyes. “she pulled me out underneath one that was about to crush me. She saved me, and got stuck herself by doing so. She got hurt because of me.”

Adrien buried his face in his hands, before continuing. “I might have died if she wasn’t around. She is the real hero, not me. And now, she is hurt. And if something would happen to her …” The tears started to fall again, and he couldn’t continue. He felt a hand on his back, stroking in a comforting way.

“She really is a hero, but if she did what you just told me, then she sounds like a strong person. She will pull through this. Have faith in her! And you deserve some credit to, because you got her out of that building. You are both heroes.” She looked at him and smiled. Adrien couldn’t help but smile to. She was right, Marinette was a strong girl, she was Ladybug. She would pull through, and she would never want him to feel so guilty about this. He had to trust his Lady, and he would be there for her. So, he smiled back at the nurse and nodded.

“now, take off your shirt, so I can take care of those bruises and scratches.”

* * *

 

Gabriel followed the Asian woman (who had introduced herself as Sabine Cheng) to the bakery they owned. He had thought of not doing it, because he was a busy man, and he had better things to do than to follow orders from a baker’s woman.

But he wanted to talk to her to, to tell her that she had no business with his family, and that she certainly had no right to tell his son or him what to do or what not. And on the street, where everyone could hear him, was not the place to do so.

So, when she invited him for a private conversation, he accepted it, knowing it was the fastest way to have one with Mrs. Cheng.

She led him to a side door, not the main entrance of the bakery, and they went to the living area. It was small, but tasteful decorated. It smelled like bread, but he assumed it was normal, because it was a bakery. He could see unfinished dishes standing nearby the sink, perhaps because they had rushed outside when the accident happened. He still didn’t receive the whole story, only that ‘something happened’ and that as a result there was a fire. So, he was determined to get the whole story, to find out if someone was behind all this, and who was.

She offered him a seat on the couch. They were not as comfortable as the one’s he had at his home, but it wasn’t bad as for a cheap couch. She asked him if he wanted to drink something.

“No, but thank you for offering Mrs. Cheng. I know you wanted to discus something with me, but first, I must say I am not happy on how you just interfered with my decision about Adrien going home. It isn’t your place to decide whether he could go to your daughter at the hospital or not. But I am willing to let it slide due to the circumstances, you are clearly not in you normal doing, with your daughter hurt like this. I accept any apology for your intrusion in the matter.”

The woman blinked, and surprise was visible on her face. Perhaps, he thought, she hadn’t expected this, that he would let it slide like this. He normally wouldn’t, but this was a special case. He understood that she wasn’t herself or something like that, because of the fear for her child.

“Mr. Agreste, I am flattered you think that, but I am not sorry for letting Adrien go to the hospital, let alone interfere. Although, Adrien is what I wanted to talk about with you.”

It was his time to blink in confusion. She didn’t consider it inappropriate to interfere in his and Adrien’s business? And she wanted to talk about Adrien? What had his son done this time?

“Can I ask you why you interfered? Why did you let my son go to the hospital?” he asked her, holding his temper in check.

“Because he needed it, Mr. Agreste. He needed to see her, to see for himself that she was alright. The boy is been through a lot, and therefor it would be good to be with someone who understands what he has been through. He was clearly in shock.”

The way how she said it, was like she thought he hadn’t noticed it. He had, in fact, noticed how shocked Adrien was, and that was exactly the reason why he wanted his son home.

“I understand your concern Mr. Cheng …”

“Sabine. Please call me Sabine, Mr. Agreste.” She said, interrupting him.

“Sabine, but the fact that my son was in shock was exactly the reason that I wanted him home. So, he could be in a familiar environment, and a save one for that matter, and have some time alone to think and process things. I don’t approve at all of your decision for him going to that … hospital, just because he thinks he wants to be there. As soon as this conversation is finished, I will personally pick him up from there, and escort him home.”

He saw the woman sigh, and saw she wanted to argue with him. He just couldn’t understand why she cared _so much_ about his son? Almost like a mother. Almost like Emely.

* * *

 

Sabine sighed. Mr. Agreste didn’t get it. He thought that Adrien needed to be home now, needed some time alone, but in reality, being alone right now wasn’t the best for the boy. Sabine had seen how much he craved attention, every time he was with them. She could see how he enjoyed it when she hugged him, so she did it more with him than with Marinette’s other friends.

“Mr. Agreste, why I understand that you want Adrien close to you, to make sure he is safe, the last thing he needs right now is to be alone. At times like this, it is a parent’s job to put the needs of your kids before yours. He needs his friends right now, he needs you. He wanted to go to the hospital because he thought it was the best for him, because he believed he needed it, and you have to respect his wishes. The best that you can do right now is to be there for him, to be the father he deserves and not the manager or employer who has to care about the public image of his model.”

She saw him flinch a bit, but decided that she didn’t care. He had to hear this, he had to hear what he was doing to his son. And she hoped she could get through.

“Sabine, you have no business in how I treat my son. He is too young and to unexperienced to know what is best in a situation like this, and now he needs stability, certainty and solitude to deal with his emotions privately. His emotions are his business, and it doesn’t concern anybody but him. Of course, you don’t understand what it is like to be a public figure. You can’t show weakness, or anything like it, or they will use it against you. I care about my son, but I have also to think of the _Gabriel_ brand and our image. The Agrestes have always been strong, and always will be, and you treat my son like he is weak, which he isn’t. Who do you think you are, interfering with our way of doing things?”

Now Sabine was really angry with this bastard of a father! How could he say things like this? Powerful man or not, she was going to give him a piece of her mind. She stood up, and said with an angry voice:

“Mr. Agreste, let me be clear for once and for all. Adrien is 16, and knows better than you what he needs, and how he needs to deal with things like this. And maybe his emotions are his business, but he is allowed to share them with others. It doesn’t make him weak, that he doesn’t feel good from time to time! He lost his mother a few years ago! Since then, he has been here several times, and I can feel he craves attention, that he is touch-starved! You treat him like a child, but he isn’t one anymore!”

The fashion mogul wanted to say something, but she wasn’t ready yet, so she continued. She could see he was starting to get angry to, but at this moment, she really didn’t care! As far as she was concerned, he wasn’t worthy of a son like Adrien, and she would tell him so! She stared back at him, not flinching once. He wasn’t that intimidating anymore, even if he was taller than she was.

“And you claim to care about your son, but do you know what you did to him? Every time he has to leave our house, he looks like he doesn’t want to, and I understand him. He lives in a giant mansion, without anyone around! You are always working, never spending time with him, not even diner! You leave him alone, and your assistant takes more care of YOUR son that you do! Do you even care what he wants, or what he thinks? Do you even care of how he feels, when you only pay attention to him when you say you are disappointed in him, or that he failed to meet your expectations?”

Gabriel only stared at her, mouth wide open.

“You claim that you care about your son, but the way I see it, you only care about an investment, about an employee in your company that makes sure you get your so desired money!”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> oooh, need some ice for that burn Gabriel?  
> Also, poor Adrien  
> Sabine rules!  
> Sabine:1, Gabriel:0


	16. Realisation

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Adrien talks with Alya, Nino and Tom  
> Sabine roasts Gabriel once more

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hello everyone!  
> Sorry I was away so long, but with university starting I haven't had so much time to write  
> I just finished chapter 16, and I will try to get the 17th out as soon as possible!
> 
> anyway, enjoy!

“You claim that you care about your son, but the way I see it, you only care about an investment, about an employee in your company that makes sure you get your so desired money!”

It was like Gabriel had received a physical blow. He jerked back a bit, his mouth was hanging open, like he wanted to say something, but couldn’t, and his eyes stared at her in shock. For a little moment, she thought she had gone to far, but immediately shrugged the thought away. It might have been harsh, but this man had to hear how he was treating his son.

She knew he was used to have his way, and probably no one had ever talked back to him like that, but she knew he just had to hear it. He had to realise that how he was treating his son wasn’t right. And she was going to make him see it. For Adrien.

Sabine had come to love Adrien, and the few times he was at their home she treasured. He would be a great boyfriend for Marinette, but the main reason was that Adrien deserved better. He was such a sweet, kind young man, but hurt. And lonely. And she wanted to help him.

Suddenly, like a switch flipped, his face went from startled to angry. And another emotion, but she couldn’t pinpoint which.

“I don’t know how you come to such ideas, and I don’t know who you think you are to speak to me like that!” he stood up from his place on the couch, towering above her. To other people, this might be intimidating, but not for her. She knew she didn’t have to fear this man.  

“You have no right to make such assumptions. Who do you think you are, telling me I don’t care about my son, I don’t care how he feels. Who do you think you are to accuse me of not loving and caring about my son? I give him everything he wants, I made sure he had a certain future, by making him an excellent model, and preparing him to take over the company. Tell me, what did you do, to ensure your daughters future?”

Now Sabine was really mad. He had no right to tell her off like that, to say that she didn’t do anything for her daughter.

She also stood up from the couch, and answered calmly, looking straight in his eyes.

“Mr. Agreste, how dare you insinuate that we don’t give Marinette what she wants? Just because we don’t have as much money as you? or is it because our bakery isn’t as famous as your fashion brand?”

He wanted to say something, but she continued, ignoring his attempts to interrupt her.

“we may not have as much money as you, but we give our daughter the very things you take from your son: freedom, love, attention and choices. How many choices has your son had since he was born? How many things he does were his choices, and not yours?”

“it is in his own interest to do those things, as his father I obviously know …”

“I am not finished! You clearly don’t see what you are doing to him. How much you are pushing him away from you, by just denying that one thing he really needs: love. He needs to know you love him, and you can’t show that to him by only buying stuff. Being a father means more than give your child everything it wants. It means being there for him even when you don’t have time. It means making sacrifices to be the best parent you can be, to let them make their own choices sometimes, not making them obey you at everything.”

She started to walk in the direction of Marinette’s room, to take some new clothes for her daughter. Just before she went in, she turned around and said:

“I believe you have a lot to think about. You really need to get your parenting act together. I believe it will be better if Adrien stays with us until you know what being a father is all about.”

When she came back down with a duffel bag with clothes for Marinette, he was still sitting on the couch where she had left him. small teardrops were gathered in the corners of his eyes.

* * *

When Adrien returned, they waited. Adrien knew their friends could see he had cried, but he couldn’t find himself to care. All he cared about right now was Marinette.

After a few minutes of silence, Nino asked how Adrien was.

“Good, I guess, under these circumstances. I could have been more hurt than I am now, and that is thanks to … to … “he trailed of, tears threatening to spill again from his eyes, now he was reminded of what his Lady, Marinette had done for him, and how horribly wrong things could have turned out. He stood up, and walked to the window, to look outside, but he didn’t really register what he saw. Suddenly, he felt a hand on his shoulder, and Tom stood beside him, looking at him.

“Adrien, I haven’t thanked you I guess. You saved my baby girl. Without you, she would still be inside, and … I don’t want to know what could have happened. If I can do something for you, you just name it. We really owe you one.”

Adrien looked up at the man, and saw the gratitude written on his face. Now the tears stared to spill, the guilt building up in his gut. He couldn’t take it, he just couldn’t.

“you … you’re wrong, I .. I’m no … not a hero. I – she saved me, she is hurt because of – of me.” He managed to get out. He saw the confused looks on the faces of his friends and his … dad, but he corrected himself. As much as Tom felt as a dad for him, just as Sabine started to feel like a mom for him, they weren’t his parents. They were Marinette’s, and he had no right to claim them like that.

“Adrien …” Alya started “Why don’t you tell us what happened? It might make you feel better.” She said with a soft voice, so he almost didn’t hear her. He could see the worry for Marinette on her face, and knew she wanted to know what had happened with her best friend. He realised her father also wanted to know, but he probably didn’t want to ask about it.

Maybe it would help, if he could tell them everything (well, not everything, obviously, he couldn’t tell them they were Ladybug and Chat Noir). He found that he wanted to tell them, he really did. So, he sat down, and started telling.

He told how she had saved him, how they had gotten out of the library, only to find they were still stuck. He had told them how he was searching for a way out when the third explosion struck, and how terrified he had been, knowing he had left her and she could hardly move on her own.

But when to moment came when he had to tell how she had fallen on the roof, he hesitated. He didn’t want to keep it from them, but he couldn’t exactly tell the truth. So, he settled for that he had hugged her, and kissed her on the cheek in excitement, that they had made it, and she clearly hadn’t expected it. She had stepped backwards, on her injured foot, and had fallen. He looked away when he admitted that he had been too late to catch her, and she had hurt her head.

“I’m so sorry, Tom. Because of me, she is hurt. If she had just left me, she would still be alright. I …” He said, and he started to cry again. The baker looked at him, and hugged the poor boy.

“Son, don’t be. I know my daughter, and I know you never would have hurt her intentionally. What happened was just an accident. Marinette is strong, she will pull through.”

“he is right dude. She might have saved you, but you got her out. It makes both of you heroes.”

Before Adrien knew what happened, he found himself in a group hug again. Slowly, he stopped sobbing, and just enjoyed the attention from his friends and (hopefully) his future father-in-law. He still loved Marinette, with all his heart. He could only hope that she loved him back.

“excuse me, are you here for miss Dupain-Cheng?”

They all let go of Adrien, and saw a doctor and a nurse standing in the waiting chamber, looking at them.

“yes, we are” Tom answered, taking a step towards them.

“I am doctor Gavriel, and I would like to have a word with you in my office.”

“You can say it here, they can hear it to.” The baker answered.

“alright. She has been pretty lucky. Her left leg only has some scratches and bruises, just as her arms and hands. Her right one has a large cut, but it only needed stitches. You did good to bandage it up, it prevented that more dirt came in the wound. Her ankle is not broken, but it is heavily sprained, so she has to walk on crutches for at least a week. You will have to return, to check on it, and we’ll see from there. As for her head, she has just a bump on it, but nothing more. She has lost a bit of blood, but noting to worry about, we have given her some iron supplements to build up her red blood cells. She can go home with you today, but she has to rest at home. We believe it is better for her to be in a familiar and comforting environment right now. Right now she is still unconscious from the anesthesia, but she will wake up soon.”

Tom nodded. “Can we go see her?”

“Yes, Sarah” he gestured to the nurse standing next to him “will bring you to her.”

They followed the nurse – Sarah – to the room where Marinette was. When they entered, they found her lying in a bed, with an infusion in her left arm and hooked up to a heart monitor. She was wearing a hospital gown, and they had taken out her pigtails. On the table, they found the clothes she was wearing before all of this happened, as well as her purse.

Adrien gasped at the sight. She looked so small, so vulnerable in the bed. Her face was pale, but he could see her chest rise, so she was breathing. He felt relieved; she was alive.

She was alive, and everything would be good again.

He took her right hand, and rested their bound hands on the bed. Everyone was just looking at her, relieved it didn’t turn out bad.

Adrien reached out, to streak a hair out of her face. He didn’t care her father and Nino and Alya were there. They could all know how much he cared about her.

“I’m so glad you’re going to be okay, Mari.” He said softly, now cupping her cheek and streaking with his thumb over it.

As if she sensed his presence, or something like that, he felt her stir under his hand. She let out a soft groan and her blue eyes slowly opened.


	17. Hospital

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Marinette wakes up  
> Gabriel finally lets it all out

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I am so sorry that it took me this long to update! Since I started at the university again, it has been busy, and I haven't had much time to write. So, here is the next chapter.  
> I really hope you like it!

She had such strange dreams. It was like she was floating, in a black see. Or was it a pool? She didn’t know. She couldn’t feel, or see anything. Or hear anything, for that matter.

She vaguely recalled what had happened, but it felt like a dream. She saw the burning school again, and her classmates standing around her, while she was … flying? Floating? She didn’t know.

Suddenly, she started hearing things. At first, it were just sounds. Sounds she didn’t recognize. Then, she could recognize voices. She tried to focus on them, to hear what they were saying.

“… okay, Mari.”

She felt something. Something touched her face, something soft. Something, or someone, she didn’t know, was streaking her cheek. She realized it was a hand.

She tried to reach the hand, but her arms didn’t want to move. They felt so heavy, like they were glued to … whatever she was laying on.

She groaned at the effort it took to open her eyes, almost closing them immediately because the light was too bright. Slowly her vision became sharper, and her eyes got used to the light.

The first thing she saw was white. A white ceiling, white walls, and it smelled like … hospital?

At first, she couldn’t remember why she would be at a hospital, but the events at school quickly returned. She couldn’t remember how she had gotten to the hospital though.

“Marinette! You’re awake!”

She turned, to see who had said that. A boy with blond hair, and the most beautiful green eyes was smiling at her. It took her a few seconds to remember his name.

“A … Adrien … “Her voice sounded hoarse. She was still a bit out of it because of the drugs.

Tears started to run down his cheeks, but he kept smiling. Marinette frowned, she didn’t understand why he was crying. She didn’t do anything wrong.

Did she?

She tried to push herself up, but she was to weak, and fell back on her pillow.

She felt a hand on her shoulder. “don’t strain yourself M.” she heard Alya say. Her BFF was now standing next to her, Nino still keeping his arm around her shoulders. Her dad stood next to Adrien, who was still holding her hand. He either didn’t notice it, or didn’t want to let go. Marinette found she didn’t care. She actually liked it, the warm feeling of his hand. The gentle squeeze she got out of, it, like he was reassuring her. Maybe he was reassuring himself.

“hey babygirl.” Her father said, caressing her cheek with his hand. Marinette closed her eyes shortly and leaned into his touch.

“hey dad” she said.

“how are you feeling?”

“still a bit dazed. Tired and sore. I can’t really remember how I got here tough.” She said.

“with the ambulance.” Nino simply said.

She nodded. She must have passed out before she was inside, and that was probably why she didn’t remember anything.

Her dad did want to say something, but then they heard a strange beep. Tom pulled his phone out, and looked at the screen with an apologetic look on his face, like he was sorry that he forgot to mute the sound of his phone.

“it’s your mom. She’s almost here and asked where I am. I’m going to go down to meet her, okay?”

“we’re coming with you” Alya said, pulling Nino along with her. Alya glanced back at Marinette, smirking, before she closed the door really, really slow, and left Adrien and Marinette alone in the room.

* * *

Sabine was sitting in a silver car. An expensive one, with leather seats and little tv screens in the seats in front of her. A very muscular man was driving. A woman with a low bun, glasses and a very professional posture was sitting next to him, holding a tablet on her lap. The look on her face was … neutral. Sabine hadn’t another word for it. it was almost as if the woman was bored.

Mr. Agreste was sitting on her left, just looking forward, with a dull expression in his eyes. When she came down with Marinette’s duffel bag, and saw his tears, she felt bad for a second, for making the man cry. But the feeling disappeared fast, and she knew that he had to hear that, in order to change, to become a better father for Adrien.

Nevertheless, she still felt sorry for him, and had walked over to the couch. She had put a reassuring hand on his shoulder, causing him to look up.

He froze for a moment, not expecting her to try and comfort him. she just smiled, nodding to him, to tell him that it was okay. He broke. He started sobbing again, covering his eyes with his hand. The words just started spilling out of him. It was like all the emotions that he had felt came out at once. Like he had bottled them up since his wife had disappeared.

“You … you are right. I have not been there enough for Adrien. Emilie was so much better at parenting than I was. And when she disappeared, I just didn’t know what to do. I did the only thing I could think of: working. I worked day and night, only to forget how much I missed her. she was my everything, and she had been taken away from me.”

He took a shouldering breath, placing his glasses back on his nose, and looking at his shoes. Sabine sat down on the couch, waiting for him to continue. She had the feeling he needed to finally tell someone.

“I thought that, if I kept Adrien busy, it would be easier for him. I thought, what works for me, will work for him. I only wanted what was best for him, really. But it was so hard to face him sometimes. It was like I failed him, so I think I avoided him when I felt like I couldn’t face him. He reminds me so much of her, both in appearance as character. It was sometimes just too hard, too painful. I didn’t think about how he would feel. it was so much easier to not feel anything.”

He looked again at her.

“you are right, Mrs. Cheng. Maybe it is better if he stays with you for a while, so I can take some time to think. I now see that he has already moved on, but I haven’t. I guess I have known that subconsciously, and maybe I was jealous of that, that I haven’t, but he had.”

Sabine wanted to say something, but she didn’t know what. She had no idea what she could say, to comfort him. She could understand him, in a way. She couldn’t imagine what it would feel like for her if she would lose Tom. So, she just putted her hand on his shoulder again, smiling softly at him.

After that, he had said that he would drop her off at the hospital. So now, she was inside the luxurious silver car, looking outside the window, the bag on her lap. They rode in silence, Sabine getting more nervous the closer they got to the hospital. She was worried for Marinette. She knew her daughter would pull through, but she couldn’t stop her worrying.

“hm”

Sabine looked at her left. Mr. Agreste had cleared his throat to let her know they were arrived. She hadn’t even noticed.

“oh” was what she said. She looked at the hospital doors, where Tom, Alya and Nino stood. They were waiting for her. suddenly, her door opened, and she saw that the driver had opened the door.

Just before she stepped out, she heard:

“Mrs. Cheng, thank you again. I believe that what you said was exactly what I needed to hear.”

She could feel her eyes softened at the man, still in the leather seat of the car. She smiled at him.

“Please, call me Sabine.”


	18. Comfort

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Adrien cries  
> Marinette comforts him

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey everyone  
> another chapter is ready, so I really hope you like it.  
> I had to rewrite the end more than once before I was satisfied with it, but I think you will like it

He couldn’t describe what he felt when she opened her eyes. It was like an explosion of emotions, a burst of happiness, and something else he couldn’t name. He didn’t care. Because she was back, she was awake and she was okay.

“Marinette! You’re awake!” he said, and saw her turning her head to him, to look him in the eye. He didn’t know when he started to smile.

“A … Adrien … “she said, with a hoarse voice. He felt tears running down his cheeks, but didn’t care. He just kept grinning at her like an idiot. Like the idiot he was for not seeing who was by his side all along.

He saw her frown, and trying to push herself up, but fall into her pillows again as her arms gave out. Before he could do something, Alya had already put her hand on her shoulder, an said something he didn’t catch. The others motioned to stand around her, but he kept his gaze fixed on his Lady. His Marinette.

“hey babygirl.” Her father said, and he caressed her cheek with his hand. Marinette closed her eyes shortly and leaned into his touch.

“hey dad” she said.

“how are you feeling?”

“still a bit dazed. Tired and sore. I can’t really remember how I got here tough.” She said.

This made him think. How could she forget? Did she have a concussion after all? Memory loss? Then, he remembered that she fell unconscious again when she was loaded into the ambulance.

“with the ambulance.” Nino simply said.

He saw her nod, not doubting she had come to the same conclusion. He wondered how much she had forgotten, because since she passed out on the roof, she had been quiet out of it, she seemed never to have fully woken up.

The sound of a phone shook him out of his thoughts. He turned his head to where he heard the sound from. He saw Tom pulling his phone out of his pocket, and look at the display.

“it’s your mom. She’s almost here and asked where I am. I’m going to go down to meet her, okay?” he said to Marinette. He saw she nodded.

“we’re coming with you” Alya said, pulling Nino along with her. He saw Alya glancing back at Marinette, smirking, before she closed the door really, really slow.

They were alone. They had left them purposely alone. But why? Did they know their secret? No, impossible, they couldn’t. And even if they could, they would never know they have found out each other’s identities, right?

Richt?

He was still looking at the door, when he felt Marinette gently squeeze his hand. His eyes snapped back to her, and he saw her looking at him, concerned.

“Adrien? Are you alright?” she asked, her voice still hoarse. She coughed. It snapped him back to reality.

He almost wanted to laugh, but found it wasn’t appropriate. But it was a comical situation, if he thought about it. She was the one in the hospital bed, not him. She was hooked up to a heart monitor and an IVF, and still she was worried bout him. He shouldn’t be surprised though. His Lady was always looking out for others, and Marinette was the same. They were the same person.

It was still difficult to come to terms with it.

“I, eh, yeah, I am, but I’m not the one you should be worried about. How are you? you need anything?” he asked, rubbing his neck with his free hand. Where was his Chat Noir confidence when he needed it?

“Water?” she asked, looking uncertain, like she almost was too afraid to ask for it. Adrien stood up, and poured her a glass from the bottle that was standing next to her bed, and gave it to her.

She nodded to thank him, taking it with both hands. She tried to drink, but doing so when you were lying down in a bed is hard, and she spilled a bit on her blankets and her hospital gown. She pouted a bit, because of it. Adrien found it quite adorable.

 “Adrien? I don’t want to bother you, and i-it’s okay if y-you say no, but …”

He looked at her again, while she seemed to study her glass of water, but he knew better. He knew his Lady wouldn’t want him to see her face. He gently lifted her chin, to force her to look at him.

“But?”

“Could you help me?” she said, and he saw her cheeks become an adorable shade of pink. Like she was embarrassed to even consider asking him.

“Of course, I will, _purr_ incess” he said, with his signature Chat-grin on his face. He saw her roll her eyes, and he knew she was alright. He knew everything would be alright.

* * *

Marinette didn’t know what to feel. She had been a bit afraid to ask Adrien for help, afraid it would be awkward. She knew she would have asked her Chaton right away, but it was hard for her to see both as one person, and not as two separate individuals.

But when he grinned like a _chat_ sire cat (pun intended), she knew he would. She knew she would have nothing to be afraid of.

He gently lifted her up, trying not to disrupt the strings of the heart monitor, so she was sitting up, and cradled her while she drank. When the glass was empty, he sat it down, but he didn’t lay her down again. She looked puzzeled at him, but then she saw he had tears in the corners of his beautiful green eyes. Before she could really process what happened, he had pulled her against his chest, and she felt his tears falling on her shoulder, making her gown wet.

“I … I’m so sorry Mari. B ... because of me, you are hurt.” He said between sobs.

Marinette didn’t really know what to do at first, but after a few seconds, she hugged him back as good as she could, and stroke her hand over his back, in an attempt to comfort him.

“it wasn’t your fault, Adrien. I was just an accident. Besides, you got me out. Without you, I would still have been stuck underneath that bookshelf”

He pulled away, to look at her, but he didn’t let her go yet. She could see the doubt in his eyes, could see he still blamed himself.

“but … it is my fault that “he whipped his tears away “that you ended up underneath it in the first place. If I had seen that book …” he started sobbing again, tears falling down.

“I was just so scared that … that I would lose you.” he said, now crying harder, covering his eyes with his hands, like he didn’t want her to see him like this.

Marinette knew there was nothing she could say to take his guilt away. To make him see it wasn’t his fault. So, she just hugged him, and let him cry on her shoulder, not caring that it was already wet from his tears.

* * *

Tom led Sabine through the corridors of the hospital, followed by Alya, Nino and Gabriel Agreste. Natalie and Adrien’s bodyguard were still waiting in the car. Sabine had invited him to come along, to see his son. He was hesitant at first, but had then decided to come with them. He had said something to Natalie before getting out, and followed her to the doors, where her husband was waiting.

Sabine felt the bag with clothes bounce while she walked, eager to see Marinette. Tom had already told her that she was alright, that she could go home today.

She was relieved Marinette didn’t have something serious. It could have been worse. She noted mentally that she had to thank Adrien, for rescuing her daughter.

When they exited the elevator, Tom walked them to the room where they had left Marinette and Adrien. It was almost like Tom wanted to run to her room, so fast was he walking. Sabine had to take his hand to slow him down.

“everything will be okay dear. You don’t have to run back to her.” she said.

“I know. But I just don’t want to leave her too long. I know Adrien is with her, and she is in good hands, but …”

“I know, Tom, I know. But just, breath. And slow down.” She said, squeezing his hand as encouragement.

The man sighed, and walked at a normal pace to the room.

When they opened the door, they found Marinette asleep, and Adrien was stroking over her hair with a lovesick grin over his face.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So, what happened in the time our heroes were alone?  
> How will they react to seeing Adrien and Marinette like that?
> 
> I know you were all expecting the talk here, but I decided to be evil, and write it in a later chapter.  
> Sorry!


	19. Plagg Ex Machina

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Adrien and Marinette Talk

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Okay, I finally finished the next chapter, and I am sorry it took me so long to do it. I really hope you all will like it.  
> Honestly, I am proud of the title (squeeling inside) I thought of, and hopefully you will all like it to.
> 
> Without further adue, enjoy the 19th chapter!

It took her a few minutes, but she managed to calm Adrien down. He let go of her, and placed a hand on her cheek, stroking it in slow circles.

“I’m so glad you’re okay, Marinette” he said, when she leaned into his touch. She briefly closed her eyes, enjoying the warmth of his touch.

“Ieuw, you dorks are going to make me lose my appetite!”

Both looked at the little black cat, floating behind Adrien. Marinette immediately realised it was Chat Noirs – no, Adrien’s kwami. He had the same green eyes as her superhero partner, and even his pose, with his tiny paws crossed in front of his body, seemed familiar.

“Plagg! Really?” Adrien said, clearly annoyed. Marinette laughed a bit, finding the kwami, whose name was apparently Plagg, cute. Like a little kitten.

She giggled and said: “hello Plagg, nice to meet you. I’m Marinette.” and scratched on his tiny head, making the little cat purr and lean into her touch.

“auw, he is so cute. He looks so much like Tikki” she cooed.

“Tikki …” Marinette froze. Adrien looked puzzled at her, until he realised, he hadn’t seen Marinette’s kwami, and that her name must be Tikki.

Marinette started looking around the room, desperate to find her little companion.

“Tikki! Tikki, where are you?” Marinette called, becoming desperate.

A red blur came out of Marinette’s purse. “I’m here Marinette.”

Marinette took the little kwami in her hands, and cuddled her. when she let go, she went to Adrien.

“Hello Adrien, nice to meet you. My name is Tikki”

“nice to meet you too, Tikki.”

It was very obvious that she was Ladybug’s kwami. Even her eyes seemed the same, two big, blue orbs that were looking curiously at him.

“Tikki! Good to see you, these two are letting me starve” Plagg whined, hugging her. she just giggled at his antics.

 “good to see you to Plagg.”

“sorry Plagg, but I still don’t have cheese with me” Adrien said, with an apologetic smile.

“no worries Adrien, I’ll take Plagg to the kitchen to find something.”

Tikki took Plaggs paw, and they flew off. Before Tikki phased through the wall, she winked at the two heroes.

Adrien chuckled, and Marinette was glad to hear him laugh again. She knew he was blaming himself for her getting hurt. And she didn’t really know what to say to take the guilt away.

“… nice.”

Her gaze shifted back to Adrien’s face. She realised he had said something.

“sorry, c-can you repeat that?” Marinette sheepishly asked, while she felt her cheeks burning with embaressment.

He looked quizzically at her, asking if something was wrong.

“No, I, eh, I was just spacing out, you know how I am.”

Adrien just smiled at her, and nodded. It was strange, how comfortable she was around him now. Sure, she still blushed, and her heart sped up (you could easily hear the heart monitor beeping, but either he didn’t notice, or he didn’t care), but knowing he was her Chat Noir, her best friend, she couldn’t do anything but relax around him.

“soooo, what were you saying?” she asked, growing a bit tired.

“I said, your kwami seems nice.”

“yeah, she is. Tikki is very supportive.”

“I wish Plagg was like that. He just asks about cheese, or he is laughing at me.”

Marinette snickered “I’m sure he cares about you. In his own way.”

“yeah … probably” he answered, rubbing the back of his head.

“So, … if you have a kwami, then … you’re Ladybug.” He said.

Marinette’s eyes widened, although she was aware he knew, hearing him say it was different. It felt like it made it real, if that made sense.

She looked down, suddenly feeling a bit nervous. He had been very kind, and worried about her, but a part of her still thought he was only like this because she was hurt, and that he was still disappointed but was to kind to show it to her.

He seemed to have guessed her train of thought, because he lifted her chin with his hand, forcing her to look in his beautiful green eyes.

“Marinette, princess, you have no idea how glad I am you are Ladybug.”

She gasped is shock, not having expected this reaction. She knew now he wasn’t disappointed in her being Paris’ number one heroine, but couldn’t herself from saying the next sentence.

“So … you … you’re not disappointed?”

* * *

 

“So, … if you have a kwami, then … you’re Ladybug.” He said.

_Smooth, really smooth Adrien. Way to state the obvious_. He almost facepalmed, but refrained from it, knowing how weird it would look.

He saw her eyes go wide, and almost felt her tense, as she looked down and avoided his gaze. He was suddenly aware of how nervous she was. At first, he didn’t understand why, but suddenly it clicked. She just needed reassurance. She had to hear from him that it was okay.

Smiling, he reached out, and lifted her head to look him in the eye.

 “Marinette, princess, you have no idea how glad I am you are Ladybug.”

He saw her gasp, knowing he had said the right thing, but surprised she hadn’t expected it. He wondered why, but what she said a few seconds later, surprised him more.

 “So … you … you’re not disappointed?”

He couldn’t believe what he heard. Disappointed? Why would he be? Surely, she didn’t think of herself as a disappointment?

“I … why would I?” he managed to get out.

She looked away again, before speaking, her hand rubbing her upper arm.

“You see … Ladybug is perfect. She is strong, courageous, conficent and I … I am just … me.”

Adrien still couldn’t believe this. Is this what she really thought of herself? Of what others see in her? Couldn’t she see how awesome she was?

“Marinette” he said, making her look at him, “you are more than ‘just you’. You are courageous too, kind, very creative, smart, and you can be strong to. You get your confidence when you need it, and honestly, I don’t know why I didn’t see it sooner.”

He reached out, and cupped her cheek with his left hand, and took her hand from her lap with his right one.

“you are more like Ladybug than you think. Trust me on this.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Plagg! Way to ruin the moment!  
> Also, gotta love Tikki, she is an absolute sweetie!
> 
> I try to get the next chapter out as soon as possible, but it will probably be after my exams, so sorry in advance for the wait.
> 
> Love you all!


	20. They were having a moment!

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Gabriel sees our lovebirds.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey everyone!  
> It has been a while! I finished (and passed *squeal*) my exams, and had just a week rest.  
> I am so glad I can write again, because I really missed my love birds being cute and sweet together!
> 
> Also, on another note, I recieved a while ago a comment about my grammer and spelling errors. If you spot them, please point them out, but remember that English is only my third language (after Dutch and French), so please be gentle with me. Because even if that comment was right, it was a bit harsh, even saying as that he/she should have expected the errors based on the error in the title (which I already have corrected by the way). Writing is just a hobby for me, and like everyone I am not perfect, so please keep this in mind when you give comments.
> 
> Anyway, without further adue, enjoy!

Gabriel was nothing but a brilliant man. If you own a company like Gabriel, a successful brand, then you can’t be stupid. But that woman, Sabine, certainly made him feel stupid. Stupid for not seeing his son.

He didn’t know what he felt the moment he entered the hospital room and saw his son sitting there. Sitting next to the girl, Marinette, stroking her hair. Looking like she was the only thing that mattered to him.  He felt a wave of nostalgia wash over him, remembered how he had felt exactly the same about Emilie. How she had looked at Adrien when he was born. How he missed that feeling.

He stopped moving. All he could do was look at him, sitting there. Caring for the girl he loves. How could he have missed this? Missed the fact that his son was in love? Had he really been ignoring him like Sabine claimed he did? All he wanted for Adrien was the best: the best teachers, the best upbringing. He wanted to teach his son how to be strong. How to make him proud. Had he really been ignoring what Adrien wanted for what he wanted? He didn’t know anymore.

He heard a faint knock on the doors, realising Sabine knocked to make Adrien aware of their presence in the room.

Adrien looked up suddenly, shaken awake from his bubble in which only he and Marinette were. He scrambled to stand, letting go of Marinette, and looking rather embarrassed.

“uh, … hey “he mumbled. Gabriel saw his son standing up, bandages on his arms, and looking sheepishly at them with slumped shoulders. The moment they locked eyes, he saw his eyes harden, and he straightened up, shoulders square.

Was he always like that in his presence? And his eyes. They were full of emotions just a few seconds ago, full of life. But now, it was like it was never there. Like someone had taken it from him. He was more like an empty shell.

_Was Sabine right after all? Did I really do this to him?_

“Hello Adrien” he said, not really knowing what else to say.

“Father” he answered, still standing straight. There was hardly a hint of emotion in his voice.

Sabine walked past him, straight to Adrien and wrapped him in a hug. He seemed surprised but quickly melted into it.

“Adrien, I hadn’t the chance to properly thank you for saving Marinette. I can’t thank you enough for getting her out. You have no idea what that means for us.” The Chinese woman said, still hugging him.

“Wha …, no. She … she ….” He started to tear up and stiffened in her arms. Gabriel’s first reaction was to scowl, because an Agreste does NOT show weakness like that, does not cry in public, but he couldn’t. Seeing his son so defeated, he couldn’t just say that to him.

Meanwhile, he saw Sabine cup his cheeks with her hands, looking up at him (because he was a lot taller than she was) with worry in her eyes.

“What’s the matter sweetie?” she asked, and Gabriel couldn’t believe how much she sounded like Emilie had. It was like he could see her there, comforting Adrien instead of Marinette’s mother. With the same gesture and same tone of voice. Whether he liked it or not, this woman loved his son, almost like her own.

It stung, in a way. Adrien seemed so at ease with her, more than he felt with his own father. But he had to admit that he was not so present in his son’s life. He was less present than his wife before she disappeared, but after, he just buried himself in his work, and his other … extracurricular activity, having not much time to see Adrien. He did try to provide Adrien with everything he needed, but he just didn’t have that much time himself. And, as he already explained to Sabine, he found it hard sometimes to look at Adrien, because he reminded him too much of his wife.

Maybe it was for the best that Adrien would stay a while with the Dupain-Chengs. He had to figure things out for himself. And Adrien seemed rather fond of them. He found he couldn’t think of a better pair to take care of his son when he couldn’t.

* * *

 

Adrien didn’t know what to think when he saw his father enter the room. He was still mad for what he had said, for wanting to pull him from school, but years of being in his ‘care’ made him stand straight immediately, and showing as little emotion as possible, knowing his dad wouldn’t appreciate him crying, so he bit back the tears.

Suddenly, Marinette’s mom almost leapt forward, and embraced him, a bit forcefully. Adrien was a bit startled, but quickly returned the hug, not knowing how much he needed it.

When she thanked him for saving Marinette, he couldn’t stop the guilt rising in his stomach. Would she still thank him when she knew he was the reason she ended up here? Would she still hug him, care for him? the tears that he tried to bit back so hard just started to spill out of his eyes. He saw her looking at him, worried and wondering why he was crying. He didn’t dare to look at his father, afraid to see disappointment in his eyes. He missed the worried look on his dad’s face.

He felt hands on his cheeks, whipping his tears away. Sabine was cupping his cheeks.

“What’s the matter sweetie?” she asked.

He swallowed a heavy lump in his throat. “I … she… “

“Take your time Adrien.” she said, as she led him to the chair he was sitting in before they entered the room. Without thinking he grabbed Marinette’s hand for support, to reassure him she was there. That she was okay.

“in the library, when we … when we were trying to escape, I fell. I … was a bit dazed, and was about to be crushed by a falling bookshelf, but she … Marinette got me out. Getting herself stuck underneath in the process. She couldn’t get away in time. I …” a sob escaped, and he felt someone squeeze is hand. Marinette had woken up, and was comforting him, smiling at him.

He saw the stunned look on both Sabine’s and his father’s face. They didn’t really know what so say apparently. He continued to sob, pulling Marinette carefully in a hug, needing her. She whispered soothing words in his ears, trying to calm him down.

“oh Adrien, I don’t blame you.” Sabine said, stroking his back to comfort the poor boy. “This wasn’t your fault, it was an accident. And you did everything you could to help her afterwards. I’m still thankful for that.”

Adrien looked the woman in the eye, seeing she meant every word. He let go of Marinette, to hug her mother, only to feel others join them. He found himself in a group hug with Tom, Alya and Nino, all hugging him and Marinette’s mom. He felt safe, cared for in their arms, and he felt the guilt falling of his shoulders. He knew it was going to be all right.

* * *

 

Gabriel could only stare, as the others (minus Marinette, because she was still in bed) went to hug Adrien. He honestly didn’t know what to do. He felt a bit uncomfortable, just standing there. So, he waited patiently until the others were done hugging.

In the meantime, he looked at the girl in the bed. She was lying down, looking at the group hug. He could see how she looked at his son, really seeing him. He was, at first, afraid she just was interested in him because he was and Agreste. But seeing how she looked at him, he was confident she liked Adrien just for being him.

After hearing what Adrien just told them, he knew he had to thank the girl. Thanks to her wits and quick thinking, Adrien was alive and relatively unharmed. If she hadn’t been there when she was … he didn’t want to know what could have happened.

“Miss Marinette, I believe I have to thank you for saving my son. I am in your debt. If there is anything I can do for you, just let me know.”

The girl looked startled for a bit, and the others looked at the older designer. He assumed they hadn’t expected him to talk, let alone express his gratitude.

“I … it was noth … nothing, s..sir” the girl stuttered when she answered him, blushing a bit and adverting her eyes. She seemed a bit embarrassed. Adrien seemed to notice this, walking over and taking her hand and looking in her eyes, trying to reassure her. She smiled at him, and it was like the two of them were lost again in their own world, forgotten about everything around them. Gabriel could hear Sabine and Alya ‘aawww’ next to him, but he couldn’t bring himself to look away from them. They looked so in love. Like he had been with Emilie.

A knock on the door startled the due, and everyone looked at the door. A doctor, who introduced himself as doctor Gavriel, entered the room to inform them that they had to run a few last tests on Marinette, and that if the results were good, she could go home. 2 nurses unhooked her from the heart monitor, and started to roll her bed away. Adrien seemed reluctant to let go, but released her hand anyway.

When she was out of the room, Alya and Nino excused themselves, saying they had to go home, and asked Tom and Sabine to keep them updated, promising to drop by soon. When they left, there was an awkward silence in the room. Gabriel felt Sabines gaze upon him, encouraging him to talk to Adrien. He walked over to his son, placing his hand on his shoulder to get his attention, because he was still looking at the door.

He jumped a bit, turning around. Gabriel could see his eyes harden again. He sighed internally.

“Adrien, I would like to talk to you.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Let me know what you think!  
> Also, what does Gabriel want to talk about?
> 
> See u soon!  
> Bug out!


	21. Mend the bond torn by pride

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey everyone!
> 
> Before we start with the next chapter of Heroes without masks, I would like to thank you all for your support. Having all of you does make writing even more fun!  
> The university started again, and I have a boyfriend *squeel* , so I probably won't have too much time to write a lot, so it might take a while before I update agian.
> 
> A special thanks to my beta readers raven_writes and Djaeka. Thanks to both of them there won't be any typo's in the chapter.
> 
> PS: did anyone notice the reference in the title? If somebody did, please put it in the comments!

Adrien didn’t want to let go of Marinette when the doctor and nurses came to get her for some tests. Reluctantly letting go of her hand, he convinced himself that this was for her own good, and that she would return soon, ready to go home.

She would come back to him.

He was so relieved that she would be okay. Her ankle would take a couple of weeks, sure, but he realized it could be a lot worse. Besides, now he had an excuse to carry her around, and take care of her.

When she was wheeled away, Alya and Nino said goodbye, promising to visit her soon. He was glad his friends were there with him. He didn’t think he could have borne waiting there alone for her, knowing his fears would get the better of him.

He immediately felt tension in the room, as soon as his friends left. He was now left with both his father and the parents of the girl he loved. He didn’t know what to say to either of them, so he kept quiet, facing the door through which they had taken his… girlfriend? Could he call her that without officially asking her? He didn’t know.

He jumped when he felt a hand on his shoulder, lost in his thoughts. At first he assumed it was Tom or Sabine, trying to reassure him. But when he turned, he didn’t expect to see his father standing there, with an expression he couldn’t really place. He immediately, as in reflex, stood straight, and pulled his emotionless mask on. He didn’t do it on purpose, it was just a habit. 

“Adrien, I would like to talk to you.”

He blinked. Once. Twice. Okay, a few times more. He didn’t know what he had expected of his father, but not this. Sure, he assumed he had to speak with him, regarding their argument a few hours ago, but the fact that he said  _ I would like _ instead of the usual  _ We need to talk _ or just sending Natalie to fetch him… he didn’t really know what to do with this. 

Uncertain, he looked at Sabine and Tom, hoping they would help him. 

“I think you should talk with your father, Adrien. Tom and I will wait outside.”

“Maybe it is a good idea if you, Sabine, and your husband stayed inside.”

Now Adrien was confused. His father allowed them to stay? And he called Marinette’s mother Sabine? What had happened when he went with Tom to the hospital?

* * *

 

Gabriel could see his son thinking, not expecting him to ask if they could talk. He saw Adrien blink, looking at Mr. Dupain (Tom?) and Sabine, as if asking them if it was a good idea. It hurt a little, that Adrien would look to others rather than his own father for advice, but he supposed he was to blame for that. If it was true, what Sabine had told him about Adrien, he had a lot to make up for.

“I think you should talk with your father Adrien. Tom and I will wait outside.” 

Gabriel saw Adrien’s discomfort flash over his face. Their argument must still hurt for him, and with stressing and worrying over whether Marinette was all right, he never had time to think it over, to let it sink in. Gabriel sighed internally.

“Maybe it is a good idea if you, Sabine, and your husband stayed inside,” Gabriel said. Adrien looked up at him in surprise. He understood his shock. Normally, he would have these kind of conversations in private, with only him and Adrien (and sometimes Natalie) present. However, he knew Adrien felt at ease with them, and maybe it would be easier to talk to his son with them as a buffer, if things were to spiral out of control. If he started to argue with his son (again), it wouldn’t hurt to have them around to act as “voices of reason”. Even he had to admit, after hearing everything that happened inside the burning school, that Adrien had been through enough for today. He might be harsh and strict, he wasn’t a monster. Contrary to popular belief, he really loved his son. 

Tom and Sabine nodded, and sat down in the chairs that stood where Marinette’s bed had been. Adrien shifted from one foot to the other, clearly a bit nervous and uneasy. He didn’t move from where he stood. Gabriel stood still, but was fidgeting with his hands behind his back (so no one would see he was actually nervous).

For a few seconds, there was an uncomfortable silence in the room.

“What do you want to talk about, father?” Adrien said, rather stiffly. Gabriel was sure he could hear the hurt in his voice. He was surprised how used to it he was. It was so different then when he talked to his friends, or to Marinette’s parents earlier. When he talked to them, his voice was full of life, of happiness. Now, it was like all those feelings were gone, like they had left with the blue-eyed girl.

_ Did I really hurt  and disappoint my son so much, that I got used to this tone of voice? _ Gabriel wondered. Did he really do that?

“Adrien, I suppose I have to start with an apology.”

* * *

 

Adrien almost choked. An apology? His  _ father _ ? No, that was impossible. His father never apologized, to anyone. He was almost sure he had never heard his father say that, not since his mother had disappeared.

He looked at Tom and Sabine. Sabine just sat there, with a soft smile, looking at Gabriel. As if to encourage him. Tom looked as shocked as he felt, looking at the two of them with his eyes wide. He might not know the fashion mogul very well, but from what he had heard, he knew that the man would never apologize.

“A…apologize?” Adrien said, still trying to understand what was happening. He just couldn’t wrap his head around it. It had been a very long day, and he was exhausted. Between having to escape, being worried about Marinette and discovering that his Lady was closer than he ever though she would be, and that she was in love with him, he didn’t have a lot of time to rest and process everything that had happened.

“Yes, apologize. I have to apologize for how I’ve treated you these past two years, pushing you away while keeping you on a strict schedule. For not recognizing what you needed, that you were hurting as  much as I was when your mother disappeared. Maybe even more so, considering the how present I have been in your life since that point. For that, and for so much more, I am sorry.”

Adrien expected a lot. That his father would try to get him into homeschooling again. That he would try to control him even more, making sure he had less and less free time. Even use his “heroic actions” to exploit it for the company.

But this? This was the last thing he expected. His father actually apologizing for something? And not for one thing, but for a lot of things he did wrong? He couldn’t believe it.

Confusion must have been clear on his face, because his father sighed, before looking at Sabine, clearly asking for help.

“I think it’s best to tell him, Gabriel.”

Adrien’s head snapped in her direction. Did she just call his father by his first name? And what did she mean with ‘tell him’? What did his father has to tell him that he hadn’t? What was so important he had to know, and had told Sabine about? What did she know? When did they even talk?

“Father?” he asked.

The older Agreste sighed, and looked back at his son. Adrien could almost see the sadness in his eyes. 

“You’re right Sabine, you’re right.”

Adrien saw Tom looking questioningly at his wife, who just shrugged and mouthed ‘later’ to her husband, looking back at his father.

Adrien had never seen this look on his father’s face. He had seen anger, happiness (when his mother was still around), annoyance and many others, but never had his father looked so…broken, so hurt.

“Adrien, I am so sorry for being a bad parent to you. You see, when your mother disappeared, I was so lost. I didn’t know what to do. She was so much better at parenting then I ever was. She was what you needed. I have always known that you would need her more than you would ever need me. Just like you, I was hurt. So, instead of coping with our loss, like you did, because you seemed to handle her loss much better than I had,I just…kept working. Day in, day out, to forget my pain. So I could go to bed, and pass out of exhaustion, so I didn’t have to think about her. I see now how wrong I was. ”

Adrien was stunned. He would have never thought his father could have felt like that. Somewhere in his mind, he registered his father’s movements toward him, hesitantly reaching for his cheek.

“You remind me so much of her. You look and act so much like her, that some days it was painful to see you, and to be reminded of what I lost. But I lost sight of what I still had: you. And I am so sorry for that.”

And then, Adrien was pulled into a hug. He froze for a second. Last time his father had hugged him was so long ago, but he quickly returned the embrace. Although he was nearly as tall as his father, he felt like a little kid again, being comforted by his parent. Being safe in his arms, cared for. Loved.  He could feel that his father meant what he said.

Maybe things would be better. They would be better.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I really hope you liked it! Let me know in the comments what you guys think!
> 
> But out!


End file.
